Two Teen-Agers Are Shot After Brandishing a Gun

Two teen-age boys who were joy-riding in a car and threatening people with a handgun were later shot during a confrontation in the 8900 block of Mira Mesa Boulevard, San Diego police said Tuesday.

The boys, age 15 and 17, were taken by paramedics to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla on Monday night, Sgt. Richmond Kelly said. One boy was shot in the chest and the other was shot in the right shoulder, Kelly said.

About 7:20 p.m. Monday, Susan Coulter, 21, her boyfriend and her two young children were crossing the intersection at Mira Mesa Boulevard and Reagan Road when a passenger in a silver Buick Regal stopped at a red light and yelled obscenities and pointed a gun at Coulter, police said.

As Coulter went to a nearby phone booth to call police, the car followed her and the occupants again pointed the gun at her and her two children, ages 2 1/2 years and six months, before driving off without firing any shots.

At home, Coulter relayed the story to her brother in-law, Robert Henderson, who got his gun and went with Coulter’s boyfriend in their pickup truck to look for the teen-agers, police said.

Shortly before 8 p.m., Henderson found the Buick in a supermarket parking lot in the 8900 block of Mira Mesa Boulevard, police said.

The teen-agers allegedly pointed their gun at Henderson and Coulter’s boyfriend. Henderson then allegedly fired his gun at the boys, wounding them, said Sgt. Dave Jones. The boys drove to a gas station, where they summoned help, police said.

Robert Henderson, 35, was questioned by police Tuesday morning in connection with the shooting, but was released pending a decision from the district attorney’s office. A small-caliber, semi-automatic was confiscated from Henderson, Jones said.

The minors are believed to have been involved in at least two other incidents of brandishing a gun in public in Mira Mesa in the past week, police spokesman Bill Robinson said. The boys will be turned over to juvenile authorities when they are released from the hospital, Robinson said.