KOKOMO, Ind — A 14-year-old is under arrest in Kokomo and facing a potential murder charge after his 17-year-old brother died from gunshot wounds in an Indianapolis hospital Saturday.
Officers were called just after 3:30 p.m. to the 200 block of Rainbow Circle, off Lafountain Street on Kokomo's south side, to investigate a report of a person shot.
Officers found the 17-year-old, identified as Jaylen Reed, with two gunshot wounds. Kokomo police said he told officers that his 14-year-old brother shot him, then ran away. Reed was then flown to Indianapolis where he ultimately died from his injuries, according to KPD.
Police located the younger brother approximately a mile from the shooting scene and they were able to arrest him without incident.
He is jailed at the Kinsey Youth Center on a preliminary charge of murder. Police have not released the 14-year-old's name. Police also tell 13News they have not found the gun involved.
Trianna Mulvaney was visiting her mother at the apartment complex on Saturday and was a few apartments away when the shooting took place.
She told our news partners at the Kokomo Tribune that she heard what sounded like three gunshots around the time the incident occurred.
“I was sitting on my son’s bed, and I said, ‘Did you hear that?’” she said. “He said he did, but it sounded different almost. It didn’t sound like a gunshot exactly. It was a different sound. And then he (her son) ran to the door and opened it and saw somebody running. Then a few minutes later, we walked outside and lights and sirens were everywhere, and I saw a guy lying on the ground.”
Mulvaney also told the Tribune that despite it being a nice Saturday afternoon, there weren't a lot of people outside when the shooting happened.
“Just a couple minutes before, my children asked if they could go to the park, and we were going to say, ‘Sure, let’s go,’” she said. “But then you hear that, and you’re like, ‘Well, no, not now.’ Is it safe now, you know what I’m saying?”
Patricia Perchelli, who also witnessed Saturday’s incident and called 911 when she learned what had happened, agreed with Mulvaney.
“It’s not safe (anywhere),” she said. “I’m from Chicago, so I thought I was away from all of this. I didn’t expect this out here.”
13News reached out to the prosecutor's office to ask if the 14-year-old would be tried as a juvenile or adult, but the office is yet to respond.
Anyone with additional information about the shooting is asked to contact Detective Austin Bailey at 765-456-7280 or by email at abailey@cityofkokomo.org. They can also call the Kokomo Police Department Hotline at 765-456-7017 or report anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-262-TIPS.