ALTOONA, BLAIR COUNTY - Altoona Police confirm a 16 year old male was fatally shot inside a home at 125 East 3rd Avenue on Wednesday. The names of those involved are not being released. At this point no charges have been filed and no further information can be released until the investigation is complete. WTAJ has been at the crime scene all night trying to figure out exactly what happened.
Ron Beasom says when he got home on Wednesday, his street was blocked off, and there were cop cars everywhere.
"I walked up thinking it's a car wreck. But when I got up here, the people that were up here said a young boy had been shot. And I believe he took a shot to the head, and they don't know if it was accidental or deliberate..."
Beasom says at first neighbors thought the boy shot himself, and then they heard that he'd been shot accidentally.
"I did talk to a couple of his friends; they were pretty heartbroken about it... There was some speculation that it was a man that shot the boy or that another boy accidentally shot the boy..."
Neighbors tell us that they saw Altoona Police arrest another teenager, before driving him to the police station. They say that teen was a friend with the victim. Neighbors say the two teens were playing with a gun, when it went off, and shot the victim in the head. The victim, who neighbors say went to Altoona High School, died some time later.
One elderly neighbor was too broken up to speak camera, but her family tells us that the boy would mow her lawn during the summer time, and that she just got a Christmas card from him. We'll have more information on this story as it develops.
