Huntington police release name of shooting victim; friends remember him fondly

UPDATE 2/23/23 @ 2:17 p.m.

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - Huntington Police have released the name of a man who died in a shooting Wednesday evening. Officers said Charles Mentz, Jr., 20, of Huntington, died after the incident.

The shooting was reported around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the 2700 block of Guyan Avenue.

No arrests have been made in the ongoing HPD investigation.

Alison Snyder says Charles, who went by CJ, felt like a second son and had a heart of gold.

“He was very smart, very energetic,” she said.

She used to live in the same neighborhood with him and says her kids and CJ were like siblings.

“It’s an unspeakable tragedy,” she said. “I can’t find the words for it to know he’s gone like that, gone period. It was senseless. It was preventable, totally preventable.”

Snyder says it’s devastating the young man’s future was robbed this way.

“I feel for his mother, his siblings,” she said. “He won’t be forgotten, that’s for sure. The world is not as bright without him.”

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UPDATE 2/22/23 @ 10:50 p.m.

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - A man involved in a shooting Wednesday evening has died, according to the Huntington Police Department.

The victim was 20 years old. His name has not been released.

The shooting was reported around 6:30 p.m. in the 2700 block of Guyan Avenue.

The person who had the gun, an 18-year-old, had only bought the firearm earlier Wednesday, according to police.

“We’ve accounted for all individuals present when the shooting occurred, and we have no reason to believe there is any threat to the general public,” HPD said in a statement.

Keep checking the WSAZ app for the latest.

ORIGINAL STORY

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - A 20-year-old man was shot Wednesday evening at a home in East Huntington, according to city police.

The incident was reported just after 6:30 p.m. at a home near the intersection of Guyan Avenue and 27th Street.

Family at the scene tell us a friend, who’s 18, was showing the victim a new gun he had bought Wednesday when the shooting happened.

According to the Huntington Police Department, the victim was shot under his left arm. He was taken to a local hospital. His condition is unknown at this time.

The victim’s father told our crew at the scene that the friend took off running -- perhaps out of shock.

Several other people were in the house when the gun went off, but no one else was injured.

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