(Memphis) – Two teens are recovering at the MED after getting shot outside the Westwood Community Center Friday afternoon.
Police say they got a call around 2:30 that there was a gang fight at Westwood High School. When they got there, the kids were gone. Shortly after, they got another call that two teens had been shot at the community center.
“It was like 5 on one side and 5 or 6 on the other side,” one Westwood High School student said.
The student didn’t want to be identified. She told us she was too frightened to give her name after witnessing the shooting on her way home from school.
“I just saw them shooting and I ran behind a tree,” she said.
The 16-year-old said she heard about 4 shots ring out. Then she saw her two friends on the ground. One was shot in the stomach the other in the chest and the back.
The shooting was the end result of an after school fight.
“It was like friends sticking up for friends,” she said.
This is the second shooting in four months at the Westwood Community Center. In September, a teen was shot dead.
“We never had shootings here in the park before,” Westwood Neighborhood Association President Robert Gurley said ‘It’s really heart-wrenching when you work so hard and you live in the neighborhood so long.”
He said he’s watched the neighborhood change over the years.
“This is the worst it has been,” he said. “We`ve got to do something different.”
Many, including police, say the change has to start at home.
“Our parents are going to have to be better parents,” Lt. Lawrence Jamison said.” They need to train their children on the way to act. That`s really the root of the problem.”
“When you have children raising children what can you expect,” Gurley added.
Sadly, the teen we spoke with fears this kind of violence isn’t going away soon.
“I know it’s not over with,” she said. “Probably somebody else will be shot.”
Police say the two teens were shot with a pistol, but they still don’t know who pulled the trigger. They have identified a juvenile as a person of interest. If you have any information about the crime call Crimestoppers 901-528-CASH.
