Mom finds 16-year-old shot inside home

A mother found her 16-year-old son shot in the chest inside their Cherokee County home, police said.

Just before 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, Canton police were dispatched to the home in the 200 block of Alpine Street, where officers discovered the teen on a living room couch with a single gunshot wound, spokesman Pacer Cordry said in a statement.

The boy was taken to Northside Hospital-Cherokee, then transferred to WellStar Kennestone Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition. The teen’s name has not been released.

While authorities do not know who fired the shot, “it appears that everything occurred in the rear of the home,” Cordry said.

Officers were on the scene, obtaining witness statements and securing a search warrant for the home, he said.

William Johnson, one of the teen’s neighbors, said the boy is a good kid and helps him carry his groceries. He said he couldn’t imagine the boy having enemies.

“He’ll help anybody,” Johnson said.

He was home at the time of the shooting and heard the gunfire, he said.

When the ambulance arrived, the teen’s grandfather told Johnson the boy had been shot.