Teenage girl shot; 2 teens in custody

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - A 15-year-old girl was shot Monday afternoon on Grand Rapids' southeast side -- and she is expected to survive. The two suspects -- a 14-year-old boy and a 16-year-old boy -- will face charges of assault with intent to murder.

"I just felt awful," said Richard Gonzalez, who saw the girl lying in the street from his window after the shooting. "And she was around my age, too."

He never heard a gunshot.

"She was able to move, but she wasn't able to get up," recalled the teen, who spoke to 24 Hour News 8 with his mother's permission. Gonzalez came outside and saw other teens -- the girl's friends, he assumes -- gathered around her.

Police responded to reports of the shooting at the corner of Elliott Street and Willard Avenue SE at around 2:20 p.m. Monday. The girl was rushed to a hospital. Her name has not been released.

Grand Rapids police reported they found two suspects not far from the scene. The two boys, who have not been identified, were taken into custody, police said. Police were able to track the suspects with the help from neighbors who spotted them running in their yards, and footprints in the snow.

Detectives have not released what they believe happened leading up to the shooting.

Kevin Roberts and his wife live near the scene. They were getting ready to go run some errands when Roberts noticed six or seven police cruisers just a few houses from his own.

When the father of six -- including three girls -- saw the girl, he said he thought she had been struck by a car. Then officers told him the 15-year-old had been shot.

"It's sad," Roberts said. "It's really sad and pathetic that somebody would shoot a child -- and a girl at that."