Boy, 9, shot while walking puppy in Oakland

Isai Catalan, 9, is recovering from a stomach wound. Isai Catalan, 9, is recovering from a stomach wound. Photo: Xv0FXFT7uteG7/JCAGR4hxNK6SMYoanu0J4x17Dcnx6HATUu7Kgv7mmVvn6DUP2Sh3MSVNO/PxA/TnH+RDDtig== Photo: Xv0FXFT7uteG7/JCAGR4hxNK6SMYoanu0J4x17Dcnx6HATUu7Kgv7mmVvn6DUP2Sh3MSVNO/PxA/TnH+RDDtig== Image 1 of / 28 Caption Close Boy, 9, shot while walking puppy in Oakland 1 / 28 Back to Gallery

A boy who had just finished celebrating his ninth birthday was shot in the stomach while walking his puppy in Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood over the weekend.

Isai Catalan was walking with his older brother, mother and father to a grocery store Sunday night near East 27th Street and Fruitvale Avenue to get water for the week when the stray bullet hit him.

“The family heard a loud boom,” said Isai Hurtado, the family’s pastor at Allen Temple Hispanic Ministry. “They didn’t know what it was. They thought it was a firecracker and kept on walking.”

But seconds later, Isai Catalan complained of a stomach ache, not realizing he had been shot, Hurtado said. When his mother approached him, she saw blood and called the police.

On Wednesday, Isai was in stable condition and recovering at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland.

The youth soccer team Isai recently joined, the Oakland F.C. Leopards, said in a Facebook post that the child was “in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Teammates signed a soccer ball and recorded a video with get-well messages at their Tuesday night practice, said their coach, Alejandro Romero.

“You never expect something to happen to one of those kids,” Romero said. “He’s a really nice kid, never been in trouble with me. He likes running, fighting for the ball.”

The family is now trying to move out of the neighborhood, Hurtado said, since the shooting happened near their home.

Soon after the family heard the “bang” ring out, Hurtado said, a group of people who had been drinking and smoking across the street began arguing. Several ran away, but two stayed briefly to see whether the child was OK.

No arrests have been made, said Officer Johnna Watson, a police spokeswoman. Investigators do not believe the boy was the intended target, she said.

Hurtado, who went to the hospital that night, said Isai has mostly been sleeping in the days since.

“He was in real pain,” the pastor said. “I really don’t have any words.”

Donations to assist the family with medical expenses can be made at http://bit.ly/2qX681e. Any extra money will go toward helping the family move out of the neighborhood, Hurtado said.

Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov