Prosecutors are investigating whether police ambushed an unarmed teenager accused of stealing the car of an officer's mother and then tried to cover up the shooting.

"This will not be swept under the rug," said Mayor Sharpe James. "My concern is that the shooting occurred and no police officers came forward and said, `We're involved.' We must find out . . . why it didn't show up in the police report."Howard Caesar, 17, was shot once in the abdomen early Tuesday. He was in critical condition Thursday on life support at University Hospital.

Nine police officers, including four known to be at the scene, gave up their guns for ballistic tests. Six officers were put on administrative duty, and three returned to the streets with different guns, police said.

An outline emerged from police and witnesses:

At about 4:30 a.m. Tuesday, Caesar and a 15-year-old passenger were spinning "doughnuts" - driving a car in tight circles - at an intersection near Westside Park, where drug dealing, car thefts and gunfire are common.

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Youths often taunt officers in the area because the police are restricted by regulations governing chases, prosecutors said.

The car hit a curb and Caesar got out. Police fired and Caesar fled as three or four more shots rang out, a witness said.

Police and prosecutors have not said how many shots were fired. Prosecutor James Mulvihill confirmed witness accounts that Caesar was not armed.

The prosecutor's office said Caesar made it to a friend's house and was taken to a hospital.

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