Cops: Fed up with teens in hangout lot in Bridesburg, man shoots 14-year-old

An elderly man fed up with teenagers drinking in a large, vacant swath of land near his Bridesburg home confronted a group of the teens Saturday night and shot a 14-year-old boy who was among them, police said.

The man, 74, man shot the teen once in the left side of the abdomen, according to police.

The victim was able to run about a block to his house and identify his elderly shooter before he was rushed to surgery, police said.

The teen, whose identity was not released, was listed in stable condition yesterday at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, according to police.

The shooter, whose identity was also not released, allegedly approached a group of teens - police said four or five - about 9 p.m. in a large, vacant area behind Garden Street near Orthodox that extends about a mile back to the Delaware River.

Neighbors said that for years the vacant area has been a party spot for kids from all around the city.

"It's horrible, it's hundreds of kids from every stinkin' neighborhood and it's worse in the summer," said Debbie Holmes, 56, an area resident. "They've got their own little city back there."

Yesterday, despite no-trespassing signs all along the vacant area, kids hung out by open holes in the fence and dirt-bike and ATV riders tore up the lot.

Residents, who asked not to be identified, said they heard that the elderly shooter may have approached the kids Saturday night and told them to leave the area, and that the teen he shot mouthed off to him and threw a beer bottle at his face. Police could not confirm the rumors.

As of last night, authorities would not say if the elderly man would face charges.