16-Year-Old Boy Shot, Wounded at Football Game

A 16-year-old boy who went to Anaheim High School on Sunday afternoon to play in a church-sponsored football game was shot and wounded by other youths when he told them the name of the street where he lives, police said.

The victim, identified by police as George Hernandez of Anaheim, was wounded in the right leg. Hernandez was treated at the scene by paramedics and later taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange, according to Police Lt. Vince Howard. Late Sunday, police said they had no suspects in the shooting.

Police also said it was unclear whether the gunmen were participating in the football game or were spectators.

The incident at 2:19 p.m. occurred on an Anaheim High playing field at 1000 W. Sycamore St., police said. Hernandez and a group of friends had been invited to the school to participate in a game sponsored by the Set Free Christian Fellowship.

According to police, the fellowship holds games at the school every week as part of its program to help deter gang violence.

But on Sunday, when Hernandez and his friends arrived at the event, they were met by another group of youths who asked them where they were from.

“They said Jeffrey (Drive) and at that time, two or three of the suspects displayed handguns,” Howard said. “Hernandez and his friends started running but Hernandez caught one in the leg from behind.”

There is an Anaheim gang that operates in the Jeffrey Drive neighborhood where Hernandez lives, police said. However, police said they are still trying to collect information on the suspects and could not provide a motive for the attack.