A 16-year-old was shot Tuesday afternoon at a West Omaha apartment complex near 113th Plaza and Evans Street, according to police. Officers say the teen was taken to the hospital not by ambulance, but by private vehicle, around 2:45 p.m.
Scene Near 113th Plaza and Evans Street
Emergency vehicles were staged near an apartment building near 113th Plaza and Evans Street, as reported by WOWT, which reported the shooting Tuesday. Omaha police confirmed that the 16-year-old reached the hospital by private vehicle rather than by ambulance.
Beyond that, very little has been made public. Police said the shooting appeared to have been accidental, but what led up to it has not been disclosed. No information about a suspect or possible arrest has been released.
Not an Isolated Incident This Month
The shooting adds to a string of recent violence involving young people in the Omaha area. Just two days earlier, a person was hospitalized following a shooting in South Omaha, and that report similarly noted that police had not made an arrest or said what led to the shooting. In late September, a student was shot outside Burke High School, an incident in which a second student was taken into custody, according to the same outlet's earlier coverage.
Older cases follow a similar pattern of unresolved questions. In a 2021 overnight shooting also reported by WOWT, a 16-year-old was injured when, according to the teen, someone in another car fired at the vehicle he was riding in. Police said at the time that no arrests had been made.
Youth Crime Trends in Omaha
The shooting comes as local officials have been tracking youth crime trends across the metro. The Omaha Police Department reported that 308 juveniles were arrested for felonies in 2025, according to KETV. By roughly a third of the way through 2026, that same department reported only 96 youths arrested on felony charges, though an OPD deputy director noted that those arrested this year were more likely to face weapons or assault charges.
Separate data from the Douglas County Crime Commission, also cited in the station's reporting, put total juvenile arrests at 146 in 2025, with just under half involving weapons, compared to 88 weapons-related arrests in 2024. OPD numbers reportedly showed a rise in young repeat offenders from 2017 to 2023, followed by a decline through 2025. Voices for Children's executive director said last year was the county's lowest on record for overall youth crime, and Roscoe Wallace pointed to the Victim Impact Empathy Program at the Douglas County Youth Center, which he said was linked to a 50 percent decline in violence against staff and other youths over a two-year span. None of those broader figures have been tied directly to Tuesday's shooting, and it remains unclear whether the 16-year-old victim was involved in any prior incidents tracked by those programs.
No further details about Tuesday's shooting — including the victim's condition or any arrests — had been released as of Tuesday evening.
