SAN BERNARDINO  (AP) — Police appealed to the public Monday for help in finding the killer of a 12-year-old boy who died in a fusillade of bullets as he and his 14-year-old cousin walked to a convenience store in a gang-ridden section of San Bernardino.
The 14-year-old was wounded and survived the Sunday night shooting. He was released from a hospital Monday.
Family members identified the 12-yearl-old as Jason Spears and his cousin as Terrance Spears. Jason’s aunt Shaunte Spears said neither was in a gang.
“We sit at our house. We talk to our neighbors. That’s it,” she told the Riverside Press-Enterprise. “Now my sister has to bury her 12-year-old son. For what? Because he went to the store to get some chips?”
Police Lt. Rich Lawhead appealed for the public’s help in finding the person who fired repeatedly at the boys from a dark-colored SUV as they were walking to a convenience store about 10 p.m.
“We’re going to pull out all the stops in order to determine who these individuals are,” Lawhead said.
After the shooting the boys managed to run a block to the store, where Jason collapsed outside and died. His cousin limped inside to call for 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.
“I turned him over and was telling him, ‘Please baby boy, breathe,” Castro said. “I just don’t understand why they would do this.”