16-year-old is person of interest in Indianapolis St. Patrick's Day shooting

(CBS/AP) INDIANAPOLIS - Indianapolis police say they are searching for a 16-year-old boy in connection to a St. Patrick's Day shooting that injured at least five teenagers, two of whom were critically wounded.

Police Chief Paul Ciesielski tells local station WXIN that the 16-year-old was named a person of interest. He says witness statements pointed investigators toward the teen, but there is not enough evidence to make an arrest or name a suspect.

The shooting occurred Saturday near the Downtown Canal on the west side of the city shortly after 10 p.m., police said. The canal with its pedestrian pathway and restaurants dotting the area is a popular gathering place and had been thronged during the weekend, reports said.

Police said a 14-year-old boy who was shot in the chest a 16-year-old girl shot in the leg had been critically wounded.

According to WXIN, police searched a north side Indianapolis home for evidence on Sunday morning, but said they found nothing. No one was arrested, although several people were taken in for questioning, the station reports.

Ciesielski said one factor that may have contributed to the violence was the number of teens who roam downtown on Saturday nights after a local mall closes.

''Every Saturday, we have a lot of officers down there quite frankly babysitting the kids until they get on the bus and go home,'' he said. ''It's really time the whole community step up ... It's not just a police problem. It's truly a community problem.''