Police need the public's help in searching for the person or persons responsible for a shooting that broke out in Northwest Miami-Dade, killing a teenage boy and injuring four others.

"Once again, gun violence strikes one of our teenagers," said Miami-Dade Police Detective Alvaro Zabaleta.

Police and rescue crews responded to the scene of the incident in the area of Northwest 79th Street and 17th Avenue, just after 9 p.m., Monday. "The victims in this case were in the middle of an apartment complex, sitting down at a table when two individuals approached them from the east of the apartment complex with high-powered rifles and opened fire," said Zabaleta.

Nadia Coles' 15-year-old son was the latest young victim to gun violence. "He told me, 'Mom, when I make it, I promise I'm gonna take care of you. You're not gonna have to work. You're not gonna have to work for anything. We're gonna get out of here,'" she said.

The victim, Joewuan Coles, a freshman at Miami Northwestern Senior High was standing nearby when the gunfire erupted, according to police. Friends and family will remember him as talented athlete and a young man with dreams. "He was an outstanding kid," said Shamar Stanley, "and he just wanted to make it out the ghetto and would like to see his family in a higher place, to get them out of the ghetto and just try to survive."

Tuesday evening, at least several dozen people arrived at a makeshift memorial to show their love and support to the family. "Nobody in this community or nowhere in the world can say nothing negative about my Popcorn [Joewuan]," said Coles. "Grab your kids. Love your kids, hug them, sit them down [and] let them know you can come tell me anything, anything because when your child leave out that door, it's no guarantee that he's coming back in."

The spray of bullets also struck four men sitting at a table. They managed to escape, running across the street for safety. At least two of them were taken to the hospital, and all of them are expected to be OK. Police don't believe Coles was the intended target. "My baby didn't deserve this. Like I said he was only 15," said the child's mother. "They didn't even give him a chance to make it out of this neighborhood, out of this environment."

The shooters got away, and police continue to search for them. "We have now a family that of course is hurt, is mourning the loss of their child," said Zabaleta. "Us, as a community, we owe it to them to be able to come together, give the information to the police department in order to find these individuals responsible."

During Tuesday evening's memorial, Coles begged for someone to come forward to help find the person or people responsible. "If you see something, you have to tell because if you don't, they'll continue to come in the neighborhood, and they're gonna take our kids away from us if we don't do nothing about it," she said.

Miami-Dade County School Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, along with the rest of the community are also asking the person responsible to come forward and demanding the violence stops. "It's devastating," said Carvalho. "Again, it's killing off the innocence of our community, one murderous bullet at a time."

"I love you. You didn't do nothing wrong," said Cole's mother as tears ran down her face. "It was just your time to go, and I'm not gonna stop loving you. You were the world's greatest son to me."

If you have any information on this fatal shooting, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a $3,000 reward.