Police: Teenage homicide victim was targeted

The 15-year-old victim from Tuesday's Walnut Hills homicide was targeted by gang members, according to Cincinnati police.

Nathaniel Scott Jr., 15, of East Price Hill, was shot in the chest and back at the intersection of Park Avenue and William Howard Taft Road just before 3 p.m.

Nathaniel was involved Cincinnati's organized crime scene, said Cincinnati police Capt. Maris Herold.

He was involved in at least one of several recent shootings at the Shell gas station at the intersection ofReading Road and McGregor Avenue, Herold told community members at a Walnut Hills Area Council meeting on Thursday.

Herold was updating the council's safety committee during the meeting.

"This young man was involved in a shooting at the Shell gas station," Herold said. "One way or another, he was involved... This guy was in the game. He had a target on his back. Definitely a (gang) member involved" in his shooting. She did not specify which shooting at the Shell Nathaniel was involved in.

Nathaniel "didn't have much going for him," Herold said, adding that two guns were recovered in the area of the shooting during the subsequent police investigation.

Nathaniel had been reported missing from Abraxas School of Ohio, according to Hamilton County Job and Family Services. He went missing after he received a home pass from Abraxas to visit his aunt in Cincinnati on May 9, said Carla Guenthner, chief magistrate of Hamilton County Juvenile Court.