Ken Palmer

Lansing State Journal

LANSING –

A 13-year-old Lansing boy was critically injured this afternoon in an apparent accidental shooting, police say.

The incident happened shortly before 1 p.m. on Ada Street in the Baker-Donora area.

Lansing police Public Information Officer Robert Merritt said officers arrived to find the teenager with an apparent gunshot wound. The boy was taken to a local hospital in "extremely critical" condition, he said.

Merritt said the shooting appears to have been accidental, and "we're confident that there is no danger to the public."

Several neighbors on the street off of Baker Street, just west of South Pennsylvania Avenue, said they didn't hear a gunshot and didn't know what was happening when squad cars, a fire truck and ambulances pulled up.

"We didn't hear anything," said Denise Oller, who lives two houses down from where the shooting occurred. "It was a big surprise. I just can't believe it happened."

The boy's family had just moved to the neighborhood a couple of months ago, neighbors said.

"He came over to my house all the time," said Oller, who was clearly shaken by the incident. "We'd sit in the backyard, we'd joke around."

Katherine Donovan said "nothing like this" had happened in the neighborhood in years.

"Being a mother, myself, I'm concerned for my child," she said.

Check back for updates.