A teenage boy suffered a critical gunshot wound to the head Friday when the car in which he was riding was fired on in South Los Angeles, police said.
The gunfire erupted around 12:55 a.m. near 45th Street and Vermont Avenue, said Sgt. Rick Rodgers of the Los Angeles Police Department's 77th Street Division.
The victim, a passenger, was one of three males — ages 15 to 18 — in the vehicle, Rodgers said. They were riding around in the area when they were approached by another group of males standing on the street. Someone in that group fired several shots into the car, and the driver sped away.
Another passenger in the car, 17, said that they were driving near Vermont when the bullets started flying.
"Some man came from his house, and he just started letting off shots from the back of us," he said. "My friend had turned back, and it hit him in the head."
The victim suffered a gunshot wound to the head and was taken to the hospital in critical condition, Rodgers said.
The driver, 16, said he thinks the man who shot at them may have wanted to rob his car.
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The number of suspects in the group and a description of the shooter were not immediately available.
Police are not sure whether the suspects took off on foot or in a car, but they believe the suspects were gang members.
