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Jason Spears (right) was killed in a hail of gunfire while walking to the convenience store with his cousin, Terrance Spears (left)
The authorities are asking for public assistance in finding the killer of a 12-year-old boy who died in a hail of bullets as he and a cousin walked into a convenience store in San Bernardino, Calif, the Associated Press reports.
The boys were reportedly walking to a convenience store at about 10 p.m. when a person fired repeatedly from a dark SUV, killing 12-year-old Jason Spears and wounding his 14-year-old cousin, Terrance Spears. Terrence survived the shooting and was released from the hospital on Monday, the wire notes. Police recently stepped up patrols in the area, due to an increase in gang activity.
Jason’s aunt, Shaunte Spears, said neither of the boys was involved in a gang.
“We sit at our house. We talk to our neighbors. That’s it,” she told the Riverside Press-Enterprise, according to the AP. “Now my sister has to bury her 12-year-old son. For what? Because he went to the store to get some chips?”
Authorities are reportedly determined to find the person responsible.
“We’re going to pull out all the stops in order to determine who these individuals are,” Police Lt. Rich Lawhead said.
In the aftermath of the shooting, both boys managed to run a block to the store, but Jason collapsed outside and died. Terrance limped inside to get help.
“I seen the other little boy go inside limping because he was shot in the leg and the other one collapsed right here on his jaw,” Elisa Castro, who was at the store to rent a video, told the San Bernardino Sun, the AP notes.
“I turned him over and was telling him, ‘Please baby boy, breathe,” Castro said. “I just don’t understand why they would do this.”
Read more at the Associated Press.
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