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Teenager shot in head in house

Police officers say they were getting conflicting stories from youths who witnessed the shooting.

By REBECCA CATALANELLO
Published August 28, 2005

ST PETERSBURG - Shane Mead was playing outside with his children Saturday when he heard someone screaming. Mead ran to his neighbor's house and saw a youth in the street yelling into a cell phone for help.

Then, he saw saw several other youths carry a youngster out of the house, some of them holding bloodied towels to his head.

Mead, a civilian contractor who worked in Iraq, scrambled to help but the paramedics arrived first. Police say the victim was 14-year-old Thang Long Kim who lives at 5901 13th St. N.

Officers said he was shot in the head at 3229 18th St. N Saturday afternoon.

"We didn't even hear it," Mead said of the gunshot. "What got my attention was a kid screaming in the street."

Kim remained on life support in extremely serious condition late Saturday at All Children's Hospital.

Details were sketchy Saturday, but Kim was in the house with several juveniles and young adults when he was shot, Sgt. Mike Puetz said in a written statement.

Several teenagers carried Kim outside to await rescue personnel. Police arrived and found him lying in the driveway. He was transported to Bayfront Medical Center and then transferred to All Children's.

A small-caliber handgun, thought to be the weapon used, was found in the yard, Puetz said. No criminal charges had been filed Saturday.

Emergency officials received the report of an accidental shooting with a .22 caliber gun at the home at 1:49 p.m.

Afterwards, several young men milled around the front yard of the low-roofed residence as police questioned them one by one.

One youth held a bloodied white T-shirt in his hand, blood splotches on his shorts. At one point, seven youths sat in front of the residence, lined up against the side gate, some seated in chairs, some on the ground. Yellow crime scene tape crisscrossed the front of the house.

Officers said they were getting conflicting stories from the juveniles and were still trying to determine whether the gunshot wound was self-inflicted or not, accidental or not.

At one point, a woman who declined to be named pulled up and quizzed officers about what happened. She used a cell phone with a camera to show officers a picture of her son. She was told her son was not the one shot, but was at the police station.

Mead, a civilian contractor working in Iraq, has been home visiting his family for less than 18 days when Saturday's shooting occurred. He said he didn't know anything about his neighbors, but was concerned about the violence.

"Any time there's gunfire, there's going to be worry," he said.

Records show the home where the shooting occurred is owned by Sone and Lamphone Sackda, who purchased it in 1995.

Neighborhood children sat on the curb across the street, watching as uniformed officers went back and forth from cruisers to the house to the youths. They refused to say anything about the incident.

"We're not saying anything," one of the curb sitters yelled to the youths being questioned. "We're not saying anything."

Anyone with information about the shooting should call Detective Ron Noodwang, 882-5545, or the main police number, 893-7780.

Staff writers Jamie Thompson and Anne Lindberg contributed to this report.

[Last modified August 28, 2005, 01:11:05]