SAN DIEGO — San Diego homicide detectives say a teenager is fighting for his life, after being shot inside a car while leaving a party early Saturday morning.
Officers say the shooting happened in the College East area, and now police need your help in tracking down a suspect.
"I just woke up with cops everywhere and yellow tape everywhere, and I was like oh snap, something happened,” said College East resident Carolyn Lopez.
The mother of two says she was shocked to learn an 18-year-old man was shot and badly injured right near her Art Street and El Cajon Boulevard apartment.
The shooting was reported at 1:45 a.m. Saturday when the San Diego Police Department received a call about a male with a gunshot wound to his upper body, Lt. Jud Campbell said.
The man's friends took him to a local hospital for help. Medics transported the man to a second hospital for a higher level of trauma care, the lieutenant said. The victim was still alive, but he was not expected to survive, police said.
His name was not immediately released.
Officers from the SDPD's Eastern Division responded to investigate the shooting. Around the same time, officers from Mid-City Division were responding to check the area of 6400 El Cajon Blvd. based on multiple radio calls reporting gunshots. They found the scene where the victim was shot.
The Homicide Unit responded to investigate.
"Based on preliminary information, it appears that the victim and his friends were at a party in the area of 4800 Art Street," Campbell said.
"Shortly after they left the party in their vehicle, and turned westbound from Art Street onto El Cajon Boulevard, the victim was struck by a bullet," he added.
Detectives were still working to determine if there was some sort of altercation or incident at the party prior to the shooting.
A second bullet believed to be fired during the incident struck an apartment complex window on the south side of El Cajon Boulevard. No one was injured.
Lopez says she sees large parties held across the street every weekend.
"People are out here jumping on cars. It just gets crazy. I don't know what the situation was, but if it was like to the point where there was a car and all of that, then it must've been personal,” Lopez said.
There was no suspect information immediately available.
"At the time of the shooting, there were many people in the street and surrounding area leaving the party," Campbell said. "Most of these people had left the scene before detectives arrived. Detectives would like to interview anyone that could provide information related to this case."
Anyone with information about the incident was asked to call the Homicide Unit at 619-531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.