A 14-year-old Renton boy was shot Tuesday evening in the parking lot of the soon-to-close Big 5 sporting goods store, where the City of Renton and the King County Library System are planning to build a new downtown library.

It’s also in the area in downtown Renton where Renton police plan to increase patrols in June to help give visitors and businesses a greater sense of security.

The boy was taken to Harborview Medical Center in unknown condition with a single gunshot wound to the back that police described as not life-threatening at the time, according to the Renton Police Department.

This is the third shooting in recent weeks involving young people in the downtown area.

“Timing couldn’t be worse,” Mayor Denis Law said Wednesday of the shooting at a time the city is considering the new library location.

But he pointed out that these shootings “are taking place everywhere,” including Southcenter Mall filled with thousands of people and on a Metro bus in Kent.

“Those opposed to locating the library at the Big 5 site will certainly use this as part of their argument,” he said. “The bigger picture, however, is that we have a huge crisis in our society involving youth who are targeting each other on a regular basis.”

The challenge as a society, he said, is to figure out how to begin to deal with the breakdown of families that leaves so many children “vulnerable to this type of lifestyle.”

“The bigger issue than where a library is sited is why 14-year-olds are killing other 14 year-olds,” he said.

Officers patrolling on foot on South Second Street and Burnett Avenue heard multiple gunshots, possibly five, at about 9:15 p.m. Tuesday on South Third to their west, according to the Police Department.

At the parking lot, they found the teen lying on the ground. Witnesses told officers that two unknown subjects ran west from the scene, but a track using a K9 unit didn’t find them.

Witnesses at a nearby business reported seeing a group of people gathered at the parking lot just before the shooting. One of the suspects who fled may be bald.

Police have yet to establish a motive for the shooting or the relationship of the victim to the suspects, according to police. However, investigators don’t believe the shooting was random.

As of Wednesday afternoon, there were no arrests.

The investigation is continuing. Anyone with any information regarding this shooting is asked to call the Renton Police Department at 425-430-7500.