LOS ANGELES : Boy, 14, Shot by Youths Near Junior High School

A 14-year-old Los Angeles boy was in stable condition Monday afternoon after he was shot in the buttocks when he tried to flee from two youths who confronted him on a sidewalk as he walked home from school, police said.

Los Angeles Police Sgt. Terry Barclay said the boy, whose name was withheld, had just left the campus at Mary McLeod Bethune Junior High School on West 69th Street when the youths stopped him.

After a brief confrontation, Barclay said, the boy tried to run and was shot. He took refuge in a nearby library before paramedics transported him to Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center for treatment, the sergeant said. Barclay said it was not known whether the incident was gang-related.