Shootings involving teenagers in Saginaw worry police and residents

15-year-old Khalil Harris was shot early Friday morning

SAGINAW, Michigan (WJRT) – Saginaw police are investigating the city’s 14th homicide this year.

The victim was just 15 years old.

In several shootings in the city, teenagers were both victims and suspects.

So far, no arrests have been made.

However, police are concerned that many of these shootings involve people so young they cannot even get a driver's license.

“It’s unfortunate that our teenagers are choosing violence,” said Detective Sergeant Matt Gerow of the Saginaw Police Department.

The most recent unfortunate incident occurred shortly after midnight in the west of the city.

A teenager was shot near Bay Road. He was able to stumble about a block away before collapsing on Hancock Street and was taken to the hospital by emergency responders.

Khalil Harris was just 15 years old.

“Even for a police officer with almost 28 years of service, it's hard to see someone that age lying there, you know what I mean,” says Gerow.

“You have no control over these young kids and they do things without even thinking about what they are doing and the consequences,” said Curtis Robinson, who lives just a few blocks from the shooting scene.

“People are afraid to let their kids go out and play because they don’t know what will happen,” Robinson says.

According to police statistics, 47 people have been shot in the city this year, 12 of them teenagers.

Harris is the fourth teenager to be killed by gunfire since the beginning of the year. In several cases, teenagers have been arrested or are possible suspects.

Gerow is worried.

“They are not mature enough to realize how fragile life is,” he says.

Robinson says he has witnessed shootings outside his home. He wonders where the youths are getting the guns and how they can keep them from falling into their hands.

“Some idiot runs around here with a gun and decides, 'I'm going to shoot Johnny.' Why would he want to shoot Johnny? Why would he want to carry a gun and why can't we do anything about it,” Robinson asks.

Saginaw police are looking for clues in the shooting death of 15-year-old Khalil Harris and are asking anyone with information to call them.