JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – What started as a game of basketball amongst a group of teenagers ended in a hail of gunfire on Jacksonville's Westside Friday. A 16-year-old was shot in the leg. He is expected to be OK, and a 15-year-old is in custody in connection with the shooting.
Charles Bostick, the victim's cousin, is just happy that the young man is still alive.
"Oh, it's bad. It's bad, and truthfully I'm surprised someone didn't die. I really am," Bostick said.
According to police, a group of young men were playing basketball on Neva Street on Jacksonville's Westside when a Ford Focus, with 15-year-old Jacolby Moore and 17-year-old Isaiah Dunning inside, pulled up to the park.
Reports said that the victim and Moore got into an argument, and that's when Moore pulled out a gun and opened fire on the 16-year-old, hitting him in the leg.
The car took off and circled the block, allowing witnesses to get the plate number and call police, who happened to be nearby.
Police said they found the car and started chasing the vehicle as Moore threw his gun out of the window.
Officials said that police eventually cornered the vehicle in a dead-end street and were able to detain the two teenagers.
According to police, Dunning told investigators that he gave Moore a ride to buy something, and Moore got out of the car to make some type of transaction with the victim.
Dunning said that the victim took money from Moore and took off running, which is when Moore pulled out a gun and opened fire.
Moore is now facing aggravated assault and aggravated battery charges.
Bostick said that through all of this, he's just happy that his cousin is still alive and that the shooting really makes him think about the safety of his own kids.
"I'm very grateful. I mean, you know with all the things that I might have done or that he might have done bad in his life, no one needs to -- no one deserves to be shot down in the street like that," Bostick said. "It could have been Shane or it could have been my daughter or anybody's kids around here; there's teenagers everywhere. They ride their skateboards, their bicycles, they play ball in the streets, football, everything, you know?"
Karen Corwin, a neighbor in the area, said the threat of another shooting like this in her neighborhood is real. She said she hears bullets all the time.
"I hear them at least once a week. You know, and sometimes, you can't tell if they are just shooting them up in the air or if they are just shooting at somebody. You wonder if maybe somebody got killed and you don't even know it," Corwin said.
Corwin said she would like to see more police officers in the area because even though her family is encouraging her to move, she would like to stay.