PROVIDENCE — A 17-year-old boy was shot and critically injured yesterday morning in Elmwood, and the executive director of the Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence said the shooting appeared to be part of a feud between young Latinos that began last year.

Teny O. Gross said street workers and other staff from the institute had been with family and friends of the young man who was shot. He said he would not disclose any more information out of deference to the police investigation, but called on parents and their children to keep cool heads and talk together so the violence does not escalate.

“It is important to convey that there is a lot of sadness among the parents of these kids,” Gross said. “The friends are very upset. The younger brothers and sisters are scared.

“It is only a small percentage that wants to retaliate. The majority of the people are sad and want this to stop.”

Christina O’Reilly, spokeswoman for the Providence public schools, said the young man is a student in the city school system, but she would not say where. She said a crisis team went to the student’s school to help classmates process events.

According to Providence Teachers Union president Steve Smith, the student, whom he also did not name, attends Alvarez High School, at 375 Adelaide Ave. That’s near Harwol Court, the apartment building at 211 Adelaide where the teen was shot several times around 8:30 a.m. while sitting inside a white Toyota. Deputy Police Chief Paul Kennedy said the youth did not live in the building.

The youth was in critical but stable condition yesterday at Rhode Island Hospital, where he underwent surgery, Kennedy said.

The police are investigating the shooting, reported at about 8:30 a.m., and whether it’s related to another shooting that happened Saturday morning, when a 17-year-old who was partying with friends in the backyard of a house on Friendship Street was killed.

In the incident yesterday, the passenger’s side window was shot out of the car the youth was in. The police said they were told that another male was seen leaving the scene, wearing blue sweatpants and a hooded sweatshirt.

— With reports from Journal Staff Writer Linda Borg

tpina@projo.com