Jul 8, 2008 6:07 pm US/Eastern
Mansfield Teen Found Dead In Running Jeep
MANSFIELD (WBZ) ―
Police are looking for help finding a killer after a young man was found shot in the head in Mansfield Monday evening.
Andrew Colwell, 18, of Mansfield, was found behind the wheel of a running Jeep at the Edgewood Condominiums near Route 106 just before 7 p.m. He was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital where he died.
Heavily armed Mansfield and State Police searched the area near Erick Road until 1 a.m. but found nothing. They put out a reverse 911 to 960 homes in the area looking for a white man in his 20's who was armed and wearing black pants and a black shirt.
Chief Arthur O'Neill said police are searching for as many as three suspects. O'Neill said residents should not be alarmed. He believes Colwell knew the killer though he told WBZ the murder was "not a gang deal."
Colwell was an honor student and tennis player about to go to the University of New Hampshire, according to a friend at the family's house. The friend said the family is in shock. The 18 year old just graduated from Mansfield High School last month.
"I was shocked. I was just hoping he was OK," said Colwell's friend, Blake Eagan.
Friends and classmates say they did not know of any enemies Andrew Colwell might have had. They say they just knew him as a nice kid.
"He liked to play sports," said classmate Giscard Sarkis. "I was in his gym class the last few years -- had pick up games of basketball and stuff."
O'Neill said this violence was not reflective of the town or the neighborhood. The last murder in Mansfield was 17 years ago when a high school student was killed. His killer was never found.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
