16-year-old killed in shooting near McDougald Terrace. Police are investigating.

Durham police are investigating the fatal shooting of a teenager Tuesday night.

Officers responded to the 1500 block of Sima Avenue after 7:30 p.m. to find an unidentified 16-year-old who had been shot, a news release from police said.

In the initial press release, the victim was identified as a man but Wednesday morning, Durham Police identified him as a teenager.

The area is about an eight-minute walk from the Durham Housing Authority on East Lawson Street, and less than a half-mile from Durham Technical Community College and N.C. Central University.

Ashley Canady, the president of the Durham Housing Authority’s resident advisory council, said she knew the young boy. He lived in the area and was found in the McDougald Terrace park when he was shot, she said.

At first, someone told her someone was in the park on the ground.

“When I got there, I realized who it was,” she said in a phone interview with The News & Observer..

Canady performed CPR on the boy until paramedics arrived, she said.

According to a news release, he was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

As of Thursday, Durham Police have not released details about the teenager or what led to the shooting. Canady did not want to share the boy’s name without his family’s permission.

According to the city’s latest data on gun violence this year, there have been 650 shootings in Durham in which 214 people were shot, 35 of them fatally.

Durham Police said the investigation is ongoing and anyone who believes they have information is asked to call Investigator B. Paulhus at 919-560-4440 ext. 28136 or CrimeStoppers at 919-683-1200.

This story was originally published November 16, 2022 at 8:04 AM.

Kristen Johnson

The News & Observer

919-829-4532

Kristen Johnson is a local government reporter covering Durham for The News & Observer. She previously covered Cary and western Wake County. Prior to coming home to the Triangle, she reported for The Fayetteville Observer and spent time covering politics and culture in Washington, D.C. She is an alumna of UNC at Charlotte and American University.