15-year-old dead, 3 injured after shooting in Prince William Co.

WTOP/Mike Murillo

WTOP/Mike Murillo

A 15-year-old boy is dead and three other people were injured in a shooting Monday evening in Triangle, Virginia.

Prince William County Police said officers responded to a report of a shooting behind a home in the 3700 block of Masthead Trail at 10:30 p.m.

A 15-year-old teenager and a man were taken to a hospital by firefighters. The 15-year-old boy from Triangle later died of his injuries, police said.

While investigating the shooting, which police said did not appear to be “random,” officers found a 16-year-old boy who had “a graze wound.”

Police said investigators also learned that a fourth victim, an adult man, was hospitalized with gunshot wounds.

The 16-year-old boy and two men, ages 18 and 20, all from Triangle, are expected to survive, police said.

What a neighbor heard

Shaun Peet was in his wife’s townhouse when he noticed the gathering behind a house. At first it sounded like everyone was having fun, but that changed when an argument broke out and many shots were fired, he said.

“I looked at my wife and said, I don’t think that’s fireworks, and we both said ‘gunshots’ at the same time,” Peet said.

After calling 911, Peet said, he and his wife walked in the direction where they heard someone calling for help and saw a young person lying in the grass.

“He was lying face down in the grass screaming, ‘Help! Help me! Help me! I don’t want to die,'” Peet said.

Peet said he and others in the neighborhood began caring for the person.

“My job was to keep her breathing until the paramedics arrived,” Peet said.

Peet, who is also a Dumfries councillor, said he had been told the injured person he had stayed with had survived. But Peet, the father of two 15-year-old twins, said he was saddened by the loss of one of the teenagers.

“My deepest condolences go out to the 15-year-old’s family,” he said.

The Prince William County Police Department is asking anyone with information about the shooting to call 703-792-7000 or contact the department’s tip line online.

Below is a map of the area where the shooting occurred.

WTOP’s Mike Murillo contributed to this report.

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