RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A 16-year-old has died after he was shot in the head at a Raleigh grocery store more than a week ago.
On April 12, witnesses told police they saw two people shoot at Timothy Solis from the inside of a white SUV. He was on the grounds of Zack’s Grocery Mart, located in the 1600 block of New Bern Avenue, near the intersection of N. Raleigh Boulevard.
Police arrived on the scene of the shooting at approximately 9:45 p.m. to find Solis suffering from a gunshot wound to the head.
Raleigh police announced Thursday that Solis had died from his injuries.
Urbina Ulloa, who lives on the same block as Solis and his family, heard the gunshots from her home.
“From what I’ve seen it’s just like good kids, a good family, he seemed like a good big brother hanging out with his siblings,” Ulloa said.
An employee at Zack’s Grocery Mart also described Solis as a good kid to CBS 17. He said the teen would come to the store about 3-4 times a week, always getting the same thing, a Coke and a candy bar.
Ulloa said she wants to see more police officers monitor the area and that she’s unable to imagine the pain her neighbors are going through.
“I don’t know him, but it’s just heartbreaking, seems like a good family, people are, you know I have kids myself, so you don’t ever want to think about something like that happening to your own kids,” Ulloa said.
A spokesperson for the Wake County Public School System said Solis was a Junior at Leesville Road High School. She said teachers shared the below message earlier this week:
“We are saddened to announce that Tim Solis has unexpectedly passed away. Tim was a junior here at Leesville and will be greatly missed by his peers and the staff. Our thoughts are with his family and friends during this difficult time. We would like to take a moment to pause and allow every student and teacher the opportunity to privately turn their thoughts to Tim and his family.
Thank you, and please remember to continue to support each other during this difficult time for our school community.”
Leesville Road High School
“My heart pours out for that family and my prayers, and I hope that they’re able to get through this,” Ulloa said.
The investigation into this shooting remains ongoing and no suspect information has been released at this time.
Anyone with information that might assist the investigation of the incident is asked to call Raleigh CrimeStoppers at (919) 834-HELP or visit raleighcrimestoppers.org for text and email reporting options. CrimeStoppers pays cash rewards for anonymous tips that help solve cases.
