A woman and her 14-year-old son were shot in Coachella by another teenage boy who had robbed her other son at gunpoint minutes before, officials announced Tuesday.
The shooting took place about 6 p.m. Monday in the 51200 block of Douma Street, according to a press release from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. That block runs along the east side of Bagdouma Park on the west side of the city.
Investigators said the attacker, a 16-year-old Indio resident whose name they did not release, had robbed the woman’s 17-year-old son at the same location a short time before. The son then told his parents, who went back to the scene with him and came upon the 16-year-old sitting in his vehicle.
The 17-year-old’s parents then tried to take photos of the 16-year-old and his vehicle to give to law enforcement. An argument ensued, the sheriff’s department said, and the robber began shooting at the family’s vehicle, hitting the first victim’s 34-year-old mother and 14-year-old brother.
A family member then drove the mother and son to a hospital. Their injuries have been deemed “non-life-threatening.”
The 16-year-old and a juvenile who had been sitting in his car with him then ran away. But deputies said they figured out who the shooter was and later found and arrested him in the 83300 block of Flamingo Avenue in Indio, which is in the Villa Montego neighborhood, about four miles from Bagdouma Park.
Deputies searched the suspect’s home and found a loaded firearm, the sheriff’s department said. He was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. The passenger who was with him “has not been located or identified,” the sheriff’s department said.