Teenage Football Star Shot in Head Inside Minneapolis Apartment

A teenage American football star was shot in the head Saturday afternoon in a Minneapolis apartment, according to local media reports.

MyFox 9 reported that the victim, identified as 16-year-old Montrell Wade, was at his uncle's home with three friends when the gun was fired about noon Saturday.

"I went to open my door and the other kids ran," said Andrew Moore, Montrell’s uncle. "I looked in the living room and on the living room floor and he was on the floor bleeding."

Wade, a junior at Washbourn High School, was taken to hospital for surgery for facial injuries.

A running back, he was a third team all-metro selection by the Star Tribune, the newspaper reported.

"He plays football, but he's so much more than that," school principal Carol Markum-Cousins said.

Police spokesman Sergeant William Palmer said several people were taken into custody after the shooting.

However, Moore said it appeared the shooting was an accident: "They were playing with the gun, and I guess it went off and shot him in his head."

Moore owns the home, but told MyFox 9 he had no idea who owned the gun or where the three boys put it after his nephew was shot.

"(He’s a) great kid, great football player. Now look, he’s laying up in a hospital fighting for his life," he said.