A teenage boy was killed and another was injured Tuesday afternoon when authorities said they were struck by bullets fired at them from a vehicle on Erie’s west side.
Both victims were reportedly loaded into a vehicle by others and dropped off at Saint Vincent Hospital after the shooting, which was reported at West 31st and Liberty Street at 3:55 p.m. Tuesday, Erie police reported.
Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook said the 17-year-old who was killed was pronounced dead at the hospital Tuesday at 4:47 p.m. Police say he was shot in the chest.
An autopsy on the boy was scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday.
The other victim, also a 17-year-old boy, was shot in the face and was reported to be in critical but stable condition, Erie Police Department Deputy Chief Rick Lorah said Wednesday morning.
Police had not arrested any suspects in the shooting as of Wednesday morning.
Shots were reportedly fired from a vehicle
Lorah said Wednesday morning that the shooting appears to have been a targeted attack, and not a random incident.
He said it now appears the two victims were on a sidewalk or in a side yard on Liberty Street between West 30th and West 31st streets when a vehicle drove by and gunshots were fired from the vehicle at the two victims. Officers who arrived on the scene found shell casings and blood on the street, Lorah said.
The investigation into the shooting is active and ongoing, Lorah said. Detectives are reviewing a large amount of surveillance footage and speaking to a large number of witnesses, he said.
Investigators are additionally working to identify and speak to other witnesses who may or may not have been near the shooting when it occurred, Lorah said.
Anyone with information that could assist police with the investigation is asked to call Detective Sgt. Patrick Ginkel at 814-870-1161 or Detective Jason Russell at 814-870-1112.
If the teen’s death is ultimately ruled a homicide after Wednesday’s autopsy, it will be the 11th death in Erie County so far this year. Two of the homicide victims were Jamestown, New York, residents who died while receiving treatment at Erie hospitals, Cook said.
This is a development story. Return to GoErie.com for updates.
Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNhahn.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: 17-year-old killed, second teen critical after shooting in western Erie
