16-year-old is killed in apparent drive-by shooting, Fort Lauderdale police say

A 16-year-old died after being shot in an apparent drive-by shooting in the middle of the night on Sunday in Fort Lauderdale, police said.

Officers first received an alert through SoundThinking — a network of acoustic sensors formerly known as Shotspotter and built to pick up gunfire to report its location to police — at about 2:15 a.m. that took them to the 700 and the 900 blocks of Northwest Ninth Avenue, Fort Lauderdale Police Spokeswoman Casey Liening said.

While on their way, officers received an additional call alerting of victims in the area. There they found the wounded boy, whom they didn’t identify.

Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue took him to Broward Health Medical Center but he later died from his injuries, Liening said.

A preliminary investigation indicated the boy was inside a car with other people when he was shot, while the shooter “may have been in a different vehicle,” Liening said.

“At this time, we are unaware of any additional victims injured in this shooting,” she added. “This is an ongoing homicide investigation as we work to determine the circumstances leading up to this incident.”

Police are asking anyone with information to contact them immediately.