Authorities identified the boy as 16-year-old Akeem Rouse of Richmond. The shooting shocked the neighborhood because of its brazen nature, but authorities say it was not random. It remains under investigation and but police do believe he was targeted.
Police say Rouse was standing near this bus stop, waiting for his mom to pick him up, when two men walked up and fired directly at him.
"From what we understand he was at the bus stop waiting for a family member or the bus when two people approached him on foot one of them began shooting at him," Sgt. Bisa French from Richmond Police said.
It was a brazen shooting that took place in the morning on busy west Macdonald Avenue. An AC Transit bus had just pulled away seconds earlier and police say there were multiple witnesses.
"This is a very busy major thoroughfare at 10 a.m. There were obviously a lot of people out, and that's why we're hoping we get some witneses and that people come forward and tell us what happened," French said.
Neighbors looked on as investigators searched for clues for hours after the shooting. The boy's body laid uncovered near the bus stop -- in the very spot where he died.
Richmond resident Megan Timberlake said she also saw a man with a gun ran away from the scene.
"I saw a man run by and he had a gun in his hand and I described him to the police, 25-30 [years old] in blue jeans and a black hoodie," she said.
Another neighbor tried to save the boy's life by administering CPR, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. Some neighbors say they recognized the boy as an occasional visitor to the neighborhood.
In this neighborhood known as the "Iron Triangle," neighbors also recognized something else -- the unfortunate sound of gunshots.
"One of the drawbacks in living around shots is that you're able to distinguish between cars back firing and gun shots but it was definitely gunshots," Timberlake said.
Other than the vague description Timberlake gave, police haven't released much of a description about the suspects.
A gun was found about a block away and police say it may be connected to the shooting. Murders are down in Richmond and police say this was the 14th homicide this year compared to 35 at this time last year.
