1 teen killed, 1 injured in Cambridge shooting

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (WHDH) -- One teenager was killed and another critically injured in a shooting in Cambridge Sunday evening.

Sources told 7News that the girls were not the shooters intended targets. The teen girls, ages 16 and 17, were shot around 8 p.m. Sunday as they sat on a front porch of a home on Willow Street.

Charlene Holmes, 16, was killed. Thania Cotto, 17, is in critical condition.

“She was gone. She never woke up,” said Cheryl Hall, a family friend.

Holmes was a sophomore and Cotto is a senior at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. Cotto is set to graduate on Thursday. 

Holmes' friends said she was an innocent victim.

“She doesn’t hang out there. She’s 16,” said Santa Delacruz, a friend. “She goes to school. She’s an innocent girl.”

“In the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Ronald Holmes, Charlene's father.

Holmes’ father said she was walking home with her sister.

“When I got over, she was just laying there. I picked her hand up and I was trying to talk to her,” said Hall.

Sources said the shooter was aiming for a man sitting on the steps. Sources said the 17-year-old girl that was shot was braiding the man’s hair.

“It’s a nightmare, I’m trying to wake up,” said Hall.

Police executed a search warrant at 48 Willow Street  Monday morning.

Some people said the shooting was not surprising in this neighborhood.

“I used to live here a long time, so it was generally quiet but it’s just gotten worse over the years,” Susan Moran said. “With the kids hanging out in the parks and stuff like that, you know, fighting and shooting -- there’s plenty of shootings up in here.”

Sources say the shooting appears to be gang related

The District Attorney is working with the Cambridge police department to actively investigate the shooting. No one has been arrested.