Police: Boy shot while smashing cars

A 16-year-old Costa Mesa boy was shot in the leg just before midnight Friday after he started vandalizing a number of cars in the 500 block of Victoria Street.

Police said the boy had gotten into an altercation with someone in a carport there. The argument appeared to have ended when the boy left, police said, but he returned with a bat or pipe. When he came back, there was no one there to fight so he started smashing cars instead, authorities said.

In the middle of his smashing, someone shot at him twice, hitting him once in the right shin, police said. He ran from the scene, but police responding to calls of gunshots found him one complex over.

He was taken to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana with non-life threatening injuries. Police have not identified the shooter or made any arrests. Officers are considering seeking charges against the boy.

Neither the fight or shooting appeared to be gang-related, police said.

—Joseph Serna