Video: Teen killed on Seattle's Rainier Avenue

Larger screen

SEATTLE - The Seattle police gang unit is investigating the shooting death of 16-year-old boy who was walking along the 6300 block of Rainier Avenue South in the Rainier Valley neighborhood Tuesday night.

Spokeswoman Renee Witt said the shooting occurred at about 10:30 p.m.

Witt said people walking with the boy say they heard a shot and the 16-year-old fell to the sidewalk.

"There was one young man walking with the victim he indicated he heard the shot. He actually took off running. He said he looked back and saw that the victim was lying on the ground, not moving," said Witt.

Fire department medics took him to Harborview Medical Center where he died.

Teresa Paige, the victim's godmother, told reporters the boy had just left her house and was going home.

"He came by, he said hi and he said he was going home," she said. "And I said OK you're going home, you're going right home. The next thing you know, about five, 10 minutes later, he's shot."

It's the third time this year a teenager has been shot and killed in Seattle, and investigators are trying to figure out if gangs are behind the violence.

In January, 17-year-old Allen Joplin was shot outside a Queen Anne party. The next day 14-year-old De'che Morrison was found dead in South Seattle.

"Well I think the common denominator that we're all concerned about, or should be concerned about is that we've got young kids that are dying out on the streets," said Ron Wilson, a spokesperson for the Seattle Police Department. "Whether or not they're gang connected, those are things that are under investigation."

The 16-year-old's aunt says her nephew was a good kid, but admits he may have fallen in with the wrong friends.

"My nephew was not gang affiliated," said Regina Hibbitt. "I just think he got maybe just caught up in the crossfire of a situation that maybe had nothing to do with him."

KING 5 is not released the victim's name yet because the medical examiner's office has yet to do so, but his aunt says the boy was a student at Franklin High School.