A 16-year-old boy was shot and hospitalized early Wednesday after a gunman in another vehicle opened fire on the SUV he was riding in on South Kerr Avenue, according to the Wilmington Police Department. The driver of the SUV also suffered injuries that police described as non-life-threatening. The shooting happened in a stretch of road that sits less than a mile from the University of North Carolina Wilmington campus.
Officers responded to reports of multiple gunshots around 12:54 a.m. in the 200 block of South Kerr Avenue, according to Wilmington police, as reported by Port City Daily. When officers arrived, they found the 16-year-old juvenile had been shot and provided lifesaving care before New Hanover County EMS transported him to the hospital. Investigators later determined that a gunman inside a separate vehicle had fired at the SUV while the teen was riding as a passenger, leaving him struck by gunfire and the driver hurt as well.
Investigation Still in Early Stages
Wilmington police have not released a motive, a suspect description, or an update on the teen's condition, and the investigation remains ongoing, per the same report from Port City Daily. The department is asking anyone with information to come forward. Tipsters can reach the Wilmington Police Department through its Wilmington NC PD smartphone app, by texting the keyword WPDNC to 847411, or by calling central dispatch at 910-343-3600, according to the City of Wilmington.
Gunshot victims needing advanced trauma care in the Wilmington area are typically taken to Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center, which operates the region's only state-designated Level II Trauma Center, according to Novant Health. Once a suspect is identified, North Carolina law treats firing into an occupied, moving vehicle as a Class D felony, a charge that escalates to a Class C felony if the shooting causes serious bodily injury, under state statute.
A Corridor With a Troubled Recent History
South Kerr Avenue has been the site of other serious public safety incidents in recent years. Last Halloween, two 19-year-old men carried out a gang-related home invasion at Kerr Crossing Apartments on South Kerr Avenue; both were sentenced in August to five to seven years in prison after pleading guilty, Hoodline previously reported. The same corridor was also the scene of a fatal e-bike collision in the 300 block of South Kerr Avenue near Randall Parkway in July 2025.
Major violent crime cases arising from Wilmington investigations are prosecuted by the District Attorney's Office for North Carolina's Prosecutorial District 6, led by District Attorney Jason W. Smith, according to the New Hanover & Pender County District Attorney's Office. Complex shooting investigations in Wilmington often draw on a broader network of resources, including WPD's Gang Unit, its STING surveillance center, the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office, and the North Carolina Special Operations and Intelligence Unit. That kind of multi-agency response was also seen in August, when an armed suspect fired at officers near 7th and Red Cross Streets, prompting a separate investigation by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.
Shootings Down Citywide Even as Incidents Persist
The overnight shooting comes even as Wilmington's broader violent crime numbers have been trending downward. The department's 2025 Year-End Report, released in March, recorded double-digit percentage decreases in homicides, shooting incidents, and shooting victims compared to prior years, marking the city's lowest total annual shooting incidents since 2003. A year earlier, WPD's 2024 annual review found that firearm-involved violent crime had dropped 45% since 2020, a decline the department attributed to increased enforcement, proactive patrols, and its dedicated Gun Crimes Task Force.
For now, the questions surrounding Wednesday's shooting remain unanswered. Police have not said why the SUV was targeted, who may have been responsible, or how the wounded teenager is doing. Anyone with details is urged to contact investigators as the case continues.
