'We are in a crisis situation,' community activist says after teen shot in Miami

15-year-old in critical condition

MIAMI – Concerned family members gathered at Jackson Memorial Hospital Monday, a day after a teenage boy was badly wounded in a drive-by shooting in Miami.

Cellphone video shows the 15-year-old boy bleeding on the ground after someone shot him several times. 

"I heard like seven or six shots," witness Trovaris Paris said. 

"When it's made comfortable for someone to do this kind of thing, we are in trouble. We are in a crisis situation," community activist Dr. Robert Malone said.

The shooting was reported late Sunday afternoon near Crestwood Park off Northwest 47th Terrace and 10th Avenue. Investigators said the teen was riding his bike when someone inside a passing car opened fire. 

"He had actually gotten off the bicycle and walked several feet before he fell to the ground," Miami police Officer Michael Vega said. 

Malone said he knows the teen from working at his school, Georgia Jones-Ayers Middle School, and sees him often in the neighborhood. 

Malone said he saw the boy ride by on his bicycle just moments before the shots were fired. 

"I saw him on the bike and I just gestured to him and waved, and he waved back. I was going to call him over, but he seemed like he was on his way someplace," Malone said. 

Minutes later, Malone got word of the shooting and learned that the boy was in critical condition. 

Police have not released a motive for the shooting. 

"Whatever it is, but it's not important to the degree where you have to go and gun down somebody in the middle of the day," Malone said. "And it continues to happen over and over and over again."