14-year-old boy shot in the neck then abandoned by his friends in southeast Houston, HPD says

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A 14-year-old was shot and abandoned by his friends in southeast Houston overnight, according to police.

Houston police officers responded to 8400 Park Place Boulevard near Detroit Street just after 1 a.m. Wednesday and found a 14-year-old boy with a gunshot wound to the neck.

As the teen was loaded into an ambulance, he told officers he had been riding in a car with his friends.

"He said a suspect ran up to the car, shot into the car, and he got hit in the neck. He exited the vehicle quickly, I guess out of fear, and what not. But his friends took off and left him there," Lt. R. Willkens said. "He started running down the road until we finally got there and got him some help."

HPD said the teen is expected to survive.

Investigators are urging the friends who left the victim behind to contact them so they can provide information to hopefully identify the shooter.