Police: Teen shot in buttocks

A Cape Girardeau teenager became the third person wounded in a street shooting in a little more than a month Monday when he was shot in the buttocks during an altercation Monday afternoon on William Street.

The shooting victim, who police spokesman Cpl. Ike Hammonds declined to identify, did not have a life-threatening wound. The victim was conscious and able to speak with officers at the scene before being transported to Saint Francis Medical Center for treatment.

"He is not being very cooperative and not being very talkative," Hammonds said. "He is being very tight-lipped. We believe he knows who shot him."

The incident took place in the 1100 block of William Street, Hammonds said. "From what we can pick up, it was a small weapon, some sort of pistol," he said.

Two other men have been recently shot in nonfatal incidents in Cape Girardeau. On March 11, David Hightower of Caruthersville, Mo., was wounded in the ankle by a shot fired from a blue minivan. Nathaniel C. Smith, 20, of 430 Sheraton St., Apt. 8-K, was arrested on charges of assault and armed criminal action in the shooting.

In a March 29 incident a Hayti, Mo., man and his female companion from Jonesboro, Ark., reported they were assaulted by two men in an attempted robbery. The man received a bullet wound in his thigh.

Witnesses at the scene Monday were reluctant to give details of the shooting, Hammonds said.

"We're hoping that when they get back in private, those who know our detectives that work that area, people who saw who did it, will start talking to us," Hammonds said.

The victim in the shooting has been arrested on various charges in the past and has been held in custody at the city jail, Hammonds said.

Police are asking anyone with information about the assault to call the Cape Girardeau Police Department's CrimeStoppers line at 332-0500 or the police department's main telephone number at 335-6621.

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126