UPDATE: 8-year-old killed in East Side shooting

YOUNGSTOWN — An eight-year-old boy, sleeping in the top portion of a bunk-bed of his bedroom, was murdered when at least one of a number of bullets fired from across the street struck him in the head, police said.

Police identified him as Bryce Linebaugh of 1404 Maplewood Court.

The shooter, still at large, used a semi-automatic assault rifle, possibly an AK-47, to fire 6 to 12 rounds into the boy’s house and a next-door neighbor about 1:15 a.m. today, Police Chief Rod Foley said.

“It’s horrendous,” Foley said. “It’s just tragic. It’s random violence.”

Maplewood Court is on the city’s East Side in Rockford Village.

Three men were shot there on Aug. 7.

Police don’t believe the murder of the boy was retaliation for that shooting or gang-related, Foley said.

“We have a direction of where we’re heading,” the chief said. He declined to discuss that direction.

The injury to the boy was horrific, Foley said.

“They are like military wounds,” he said. “The weapon is one used in the military. That’s why the wound is so terrible.”

When police were called, the boy’s mother told them her son was upstairs and still breathing. When officers arrived, the boy was dead, police said.

No one else was shot.

This is a developing story. For details, continue to watch Vindy.com.