Raleigh teen shot in the head on New Bern Avenue dies
A Raleigh 16-year-old shot in the head in front of a convenience store on April 12 has died from injuries.
Timothy Solas, a junior at Leesville High School, died Thursday after spending a week in critical condition at a local hospital, the Raleigh Police Department said.
Police believe that Solas was an innocent bystander and was not the intended target of the gunfire.
People who work at Zack’s Gas 76 on New Bern Avenue said Solas came to the store almost every day and bought the same thing - a Coke, candy bar and chips.
The store did not release surveillance video, but witnesses told WRAL News that it shows a young man, standing in line at the store’s takeout window, minding his own business, looking down to check his phone. Suddenly, there is a spray of bullets – witnesses say they heard six – and the teenager goes down to the ground while others run in every direction.
"Tim was a junior here at Leesville and will be greatly missed by his peers and the staff," according to a statement from Wake County Public School System officials. "Our thoughts are with his family and friends during this difficult time. We would like to take a moment to pause and allow every student and teacher the opportunity to privately turn their thoughts to Tim and his family."
"It is really sad," said Ralph Wilson, who lives in the area. "I feel that we are wiping away the potential of these young people. We don’t know what he could have contributed to society being that he was gunned down like that."
People in the neighborhood told WRAL News that crime is the norm in their community. Since January of 2020 there have been 86 crimes reported in the 1600 block of New Bern Avenue, 28 involve drugs, 18 assaults and one murder.
In January, WRAL News dug into the crime statistics for the 3100 stretch of New Bern Avenue area and learned that 619 crimes have been reported in that particular block, with 57 of them defined as 'violent' crimes, in the past five years.
In February, a 67-year-old man was found dead at a New Bern Avenue bus stop, launching a homicide investigation. A month later, a crime spree that included a man caught on camera shooting at police ended along New Bern Avenue.
"The poverty is so high here that everyone is hungry here, and that's why the crime is so high here," said neighbor Lana Williams.
Residents in this area hope this senseless act will bring more awareness to the increasing amount of violence here.
"I’m not really surprised," Wilson said. "Lately I’ve heard of a lot of shooting down here. But I just wish it could come to an end."
