By William A. Weathers
The Cincinnati Enquirer

A 13-year-old North Fairmount boy was being questioned by Cincinnati police in connection with the Thursday night shooting death of one teen and the wounding of two others, one of whom was in critical condition.

The boy being questioned was a victim of bullying, two of his relatives claimed.

The shooting occurred about 6:35 p.m. on the sidewalk in front of MJ's Variety store at Beekman and Dempsey streets in North Fairmount, said Cincinnati Police Capt. Kathleen Howard.

A 14-year-old boy was pronounced dead at the scene, and two other male juveniles were transported to separate hospitals for treatment of bullet wounds, Howard said. One of them was treated at Good Samaritan Hospital and released to police custody. The other, 14, was in critical condition at a Cincinnati hospital.

"I believe there was an altercation beforehand," Howard said. "The victims were standing in front of the variety store."

Police think three shots were fired from a 9 mm handgun which officers had not yet recovered, Howard said.

The 13-year-old in custody had not been charged as of late Thursday, she said.

The 41-year-old uncle of the boy being questioned said his nephew and the juveniles who were shot had been involved in an ongoing dispute since last summer. A car had been broken into and someone had told the juveniles that his nephew was responsible.

"The three of them bullied him," the uncle said.

The uncle and the boy's grandmother said they had no idea where he got the gun and that he should not have shot his older tormentors. But after all the bullying he endured, "something's got to give," the grandmother said.

If the 13-year-old is charged with murder, he would be among the youngest juveniles ever charged in Hamilton County. When a 13-year boy and 11-year-old boy were charged with murder in the death of an 8-year-old girl in her Northside home in August 2001, authorities said at that time they thought the two boys were the youngest persons to ever be charged with murder in the county.

Thursday's homicide was the 11th in Cincinnati this year, compared with four by the corresponding date last year.

There were 65 homicides in Cincinnati in 2002, a 15-year high.

Jane Prendergast contributed to this story.

E-mail bweathers@enquirer.com.