Two 13-year-old boys shot near playground in Durham

Neighbors are concerned after two 13-year-old boys were shot on Thursday in the middle of the day.

Around 4:38 p.m., Durham police officers responded to a local hospital after two boys arrived with gunshot wounds. Police said the boys' injuries are not life-threatening.

Durham police believe the shooting happened at the intersection of Ridgeway Avenue and Lakeland Street, near a park next to the McDouglad Terrace neighborhood.

People who live nearby told WRAL News they're worried about this latest act of violence in an area that has struggled with crime before.

One woman who lives in the area but wanted to remain anonymous said she hears gunshots in the evenings frequently, and children being injured make it more concerning.

"I feel like it's particularly unfair to the residents who live in this part of town, because just being out, a kid in public playing in the playground in the afternoon on a Thursday, it doesn't feel safe," the woman said. "I feel sad for those families who have to consider that as part of their daily schedules."

McDougald Terrace was in the ShotSpotter coverage area, but the sensors that detected gunshots within a three-square-mile radius near downtown Durham were turned off in December.

The woman said, while she hears fewer sirens, she has seen more of a police presence.

"On the days that I work from home I just see more police cars driving by the neighborhood slowly, or parked in areas like by the laundromat or by the church that's across the neighborhood, just sitting there on alert, I'm assuming," she said.

According to Durham police, seven people under the age of 18 have been shot so far this year:

• Jan. 18: 8-year-old girl shot when bullet hits home on Liberty Street
• Feb. 10: 13-year-old boy shot on Hoover Road in Durham
• March 12: 5-year-old girl, 16-year-old boy shot at Oxford Manor apartments

The Durham Police Department releases weekly shooting data on Saturday. The most recent information shows the numbers of people shot in Durham and shootings are both down from previous years, with 134 shootings and 33 people shot so far in 2024.

Still, neighbors said the number of shootings involving young people is concerning.

"I would like to assume that most of the gunshots I hear are not hurting anybody, and that's why I'm not hearing sirens," the woman told WRAL News. "But hearing that somebody did get hurt, especially kids, I would like to see that addressed."

The investigation into who shot the 13-year-old boys is active and ongoing, and Durham police had no additional details to release.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 919-683-1200.