STAFFORD, Texas – Police are looking for the person that shot a 14-year-old boy outside the Main Event entertainment center in Stafford just before 11 p.m. Saturday.
There was shock at the scene and disbelief hours later near the very same spot where shooting occurred.
"That's pretty crazy that something like that could happen out of nowhere," said Vinh Tong, who was at a nearby restaurant Sunday and has been to that Main Event before.
Police say just before 11, around 50 teens were gathered in front of Main Event because of an age limit inside the building. That's when they say one of them pulled out a gun and opened fire, striking a boy in the chest. Emergency crews rushed him to surgery at Memorial Hermann Hospital in serious but stable condition, while police tried to piece together what happened.
"We have no witnesses because everybody fled as fast as they could," said Capt. Patrick Herman of the Stafford Police Department.
That leaves one big question for police and this community of just under 20,000: Why?
"It causes concern for me, as well," said Britt Brooks, lead pastor at Calvary Church just down the street from Main Event. "I have children the same age as the young man involved in the shooting."
Brooks led members of his church in prayer for the boy during Sunday morning services and planned to do so again during services later that evening.
"With this being a few hundred yards from our church our concern is what more can we do to try to reach the community?" said Brooks. "What more can we do to try to keep these things from happening with our youth?"
Brooks says the church is already using outreach programs at schools and nearby apartments and says even though he doesn't know who the boy is, "it hits close to home."
Both the pastor and several other people who had been to the Main Event said they've never felt unsafe.
The manager of Main Event said the store has no comment because there's still so much they don't know about this case.
The manager did say that they've handed over surveillance video of the parking lot to police.
