Scranton Times Tribune | By Bob Kalinowski and Bill Wellock
WILKES-BARRE - A teenage boy was shot dead outside his home Thursday evening while walking back from a youth sports facility, police said.
The boy's grandmother, who raised him since he was a child, identified him as Tyler Winstead, 13.
"I don't know what's going on. My grandson was shot, and his face was bloody," said an emotionally shaken Carol Golden at the Hill Street scene as medics loaded her grandson into an ambulance.
Family said Tyler was shot while walking home after playing basketball at the Catholic Youth Center on Washington Street in Wilkes-Barre.
Tyler, a student at GAR Junior/Senior High School, was rushed to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Plains Twp., where he was pronounced dead, authorities said.
Neighbors described Tyler as a well-behaved young man who came from a strict, church-going family. He lived at 121 Hill St., doors away from where he was shot.
At one end of the street is GAR High School. At the other end was Mount Zion Baptist Church, where his family regularly attends.
In between, Tyler's shoes lay on the side of the residential street that had suddenly become a crime scene.
Arline McClure, 68, of Wilkes-Barre, was inside Mt. Zion Baptist Church practicing Easter songs with the church choir when a woman came in and announced someone had been shot outside.
"We started praying," she said. 'It's scary, I've seen this happen to so many this way. These young kids ...."
At 8:45 p.m., Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis confirmed the news: A teenager was dead. State police from the Forensic Services Unit arrived on scene.
As onlookers gathered, police cordoned off the area with crime scene tape. Police at the scene could be seen searching the street, lawns and sidewalks for evidence. They looked under a dark blue Jeep parked on the street and peered inside with flashlights.
Initial dispatch reports indicated that police were looking for an unknown shooter who left the area in a red car. The shooter remained at large as of press time.
Tyler's death is the first criminal homicide of the year in Luzerne County.
"It's terrible when you find out a teenager was shot and killed," Ms. Salavantis said. "We're going to do everything possible to find out who committed this murder."
The news shocked 57-year-old Frank Galella, whose nephew had played basketball with Tyler on Wednesday. He couldn't understand how anyone could want to shoot Tyler.
"He was the nicest kid you'd ever want to meet. I don't think they knew who he was," Mr. Galella said. "You couldn't meet a nicer family than this family right there. She had those kids under her thumb. This is unbelievable."
Another neighbor, Victoria Bennett, remembered Tyler as polite young student who waved at her as he came home from GAR each day.
"He never caused any trouble. Never. It was two doors down from his house and it was daylight," she said. "It's heartbreaking."
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