Man shot in the head when he answers South Welles Street apartment door.
WILKES-BARRE � Police searched for two men they say approached a South Welles Street apartment, knocked at the door and fired several shots, striking a man in his temple Saturday night.
The shooting happened at about 9:20 p.m. at a Boulevard Town Homes apartment at 163 S. Welles St., according to Wilkes-Barre police Lt. Al Bogdon.
Bogdon said two men with red bandanas over their faces shot the man in the head. He said the two suspects fled the scene on foot. Early police reports indicated the suspects ran northeast toward Northampton Street.
William Caldwalder, a Wilkes-Barre Housing Authority security guard, was one of the first to arrive at the scene.
�This place is known for problems, absolutely,� Caldwalder said.
The name of the victim was not released late Saturday. He was taken to Scranton Community Medical Center by helicopter for treatment. Hospital spokeswoman Jane Gaul refused to release any information about his condition. Bogdon said the victim was still alive as of 10:30 p.m. Saturday
The suspects were described as two black men in their early 20s. One was tall and the other was shorter. One wore red clothing from head to toe; the other was dressed in dark clothing, Bogdon said.
Investigators refused to speculate on any motive for the shooting.
�We have a manhunt going on looking for these suspects,� Bogdon said. �All possible leads at this point are all speculation right now.�
A former nurse who lived nearby the victim said she heard the gunshots and came outside to see what happened. She refused to reveal her name because the suspects were still at large Saturday, but she said she saw the victim lying outside the apartment on the ground next to the front door.
She said the man was hit in the right temple and had what appeared to be an exit wound in the back of his head. She said he was having trouble breathing and was bleeding heavily. She and her daughter were about to perform CPR when police arrived.
A female acquaintance of the victim who was inside the house at the time of the shooting, according to Caldwalder, stood outside next to the victim as police put him on the stretcher and into the ambulance.
�They shot him in the head, they shot him in the head,� she said repeatedly as she wept.
The victim was driven to the nearby helicopter for transport to CMC.
Several young children were seen being carried by adults out of the apartment and witnesses inside the home were taken to the Wilkes-Barre police station for questioning.
He is the nicest man I ever met.. Dumb tramp of a girlfriend. It is all her fault
Posted by Nima | Monday 09 May 2005 11:24AM
Who was a nice man? The man who was shot? I assume not the shooter. (People who shoot people in the head would seem to be distinctly NOT nice. Eeep.)
Did the victim make it? I haven't seen any news about it since.
I don't know these people at all. I just thought it was a terrible story, and someone mentioned that they happened to be driving down the street near there, and they saw 'the man in red', walking on the street, talking on a phone, in the neighborhood near that street maybe an hour before the shooting took place. -- And then saw the story on the news the next day.
Seemed to me to be rather stupid for someone to dress from head to toe in red when they were on their way to try & murder someone. You would think they'd want to be inconspicuous. Unless it was completely unplanned... maybe that phone call prompted it or something, I suppose.
Awful event, at any rate. Very sad.
Posted by Chloe | Monday 09 May 2005 12:23PM
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He is the nicest man I ever met.. Dumb tramp of a girlfriend. It is all her fault
Who was a nice man? The man who was shot? I assume not the shooter. (People who shoot people in the head would seem to be distinctly NOT nice. Eeep.)
