A 17-year-old Charlestown High School junior's morning routine nearly cost him his life yesterday, according to neighbors and law enforcement sources.
About 6:30 a.m., the teen was warming up his car in the driveway of his home in Mattapan, as he always does, when someone shot him, hitting the accomplished basketball player in the head, according to police and neighbors. Witnesses said several shots were fired.
The victim was struck in the jaw and rushed inside the family home, where relatives applied pressure to the wound, police said. He was reported in stable condition at Boston Medical Center yesterday afternoon.
Relatives at the residence, which also houses a day-care center, declined to comment and did not return a telephone call.
State early-education regulators said no children were in the home during the shooting and that the operator voluntarily closed the day-care center afterward.
Neighbors said the teen is considered a "nice kid" who is often seen playing basketball.
He was on Charlestown High's basketball team as a freshman, but Boston school officials declined to talk about the teen, saying they did not want to disrupt the police investigation.
Those who know him and his family were surprised to learn that he was the apparent target of an attack.
"I can't believe it happened," said Russell Jean, a neighbor."He's a real nice kid."
The gunfire and the timing shocked residents of the quiet street of two-family homes off River Street and a short distance from Mattapan Square.
Police, who did not release the victim's name, said he usually left his home by the rear door leading to the driveway and that he was known to let his car run to warm up before leaving for the day. Witnesses described seeing a Cadillac speeding from the area following the shooting.
Another neighbor, Melvin Peterson, said he was in bed while his girlfriend's two young children were in the backyard when the sound of gunfire echoed through the neighborhood. The house is directly across from the shooting scene. He said his girlfriend quickly brought the children into the house. Peterson said he was stunned by the shooting.
"When you've got shots at 6:30 in the morning, that's crazy, that's ridiculous," he said.
