Man sought in Sanford teen's shooting

Officers found a 15-year-old who had been shot in the face, shoulder and both ankles in the 500 block of Pineland Street at about 9:20 p.m., police said. The teen, a West Lee Middle School student known in the neighborhood as "Junior," was taken to Central Carolina Hospital and then airlifted to UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, where he was listed in critical condition.

Warrants have been issued for Pierre Alexander Amerson, 21, of 2581 Bella Bridge Road, on charges of assault with deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury and possession of a firearm by a felon.

Junior's sister, who declined to give her name, said the shooting occurred down the street from the family's home, adding that Amerson had been to the house before and that she knows of no reason he would shoot her brother.

Police haven't released any information on a possible motive for the shooting or a description of Amerson.

Sharon Tysor, who lives nearby, said she and her sister ducked for cover inside when they heard the gunshots. When the shooting stopped, they went outside and found Junior lying in the street.

Wanda Mciver, who also lives nearby, said Junior is friends with her daughter. She called him "a good child," noting that he and her daughter had received a President's Award at West Lee Middle.

Tysor said Amerson often hangs out around the neighborhood, noting that she saw him on Pineland Street about an hour before the shooting.

"He was walking around here acting weird, and I said, 'Something must be wrong with that boy,'" she said.

The shooting is the second violent crime in three days in Sanford. On Sunday morning, a man was stabbed to death less than a mile from Pineland Street.

"This just don't make no sense," Tysor said. "It needs to change, and it needs to stop."