Local

14-year-old boy shot, killed in northwest Atlanta

ATLANTA — A teenager was found dead from a gunshot wound in an apartment on Sunset Avenue.

Police are not ready to call it a murder case just yet. Family members identified the deceased as 14-year-old Mike Smith.

"It's a hurtful situation because he's a child," said Peaches McCluster who says she's Smith's Godmother.

Police say they have not ruled out that Smith shot himself.

"Right now we're going to call it a death investigation," said Capt. Paul Guerrucci.  "We've received information as to how he got shot but we still have a lot of work to do to try to verify that."

McCluster says that theory doesn't make sense.

"I know Mike was not a suicidal person," she said. "In my heart I believe somebody did it."

Police could not say if a weapon was recovered at the scene.

They did say that there were others in the apartment at the time of the shooting, and that those individuals are cooperating with investigators.

"Before we determine the cause of death it's going to be a combination of working the scene and what the medical examiner has to say," said Guerrucci.

Friends and family members say they believe there are witnesses who know more than they're telling police.

"They need to come forward and tell the truth," said McCluster.

"I just want closure to it so we can know what really happened, because people can say one thing and it could be another thing," she said.