Alden Cadwell expected police to be visible in Carter Park Monday morning after news spread of a shooting the night before. Cadwell, the director of the Northeastern-run Sports for Life summer camp which uses the park, said he was worried for his campers’ safety.

When close to 30 of the 100-plus kids in the program did not show, he knew parents were worried as well.

Jenry Gonzalez, 11, of Roxbury, was trying out for the South End Titans, a Pop Warner football team, when, at around 7:30 Sunday night, he was shot in the chest. BPD Police spokesman Michael McCarthy said it appeared Gonzalez was an unintended victim, and the boy is in critical, but stable condition. As of Monday, police had no specific information on a suspect.

Cadwell said he expected some police presence from both the Boston Police as well as the Northeastern police, whose headquarters sit directly across from the park.

“I feel a little concerned [the shooting] did happen,” he said. “I feel really upset the police department hasn’t sent someone down here. Nobody has come over and that’s also disappointing because it’s an NU camp.”

On Monday night, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, along with Boston Police Commissioner Kathleen O’Toole, announced a plan that would put more police in city parks. Boston police confirmed there were plainclothes officers patrolling the park Monday afternoon.

Staff members of the camp, run by the Northeastern Center for Sports in Society, said they approached Northeastern police officers to request a stronger presence in the park that runs along Columbus Avenue in front of the Davenport complex. James Ferrier, associate director of public safety, said no specific request was made and because the park is owned by the city, it is the city’s responsibility to patrol it.

“Jurisdiction is about property, not who is using it,” Ferrier said.

While he said NUPD does not specifically patrol the park, there is an officer on duty on Columbus Avenue at all times, from the Renaissance Garage to Camden Street. One officer was stationed in front of Davenport B when the shooting occurred Sunday and he was the first to respond to the scene.

Lazar Franklin, who runs the South End Titans, said he was not concerned with safety when he picked Carter Park to hold tryouts.

“We weren’t worried about this area because of the college students,” he said. “I run this program to keep these things from happening.”

Franklin said the park was packed when the incident occurred, and he did not see anyone suspicious before or after the shooting.

“The whole city was quiet for the [Democratic National Convention] and then some knucklehead comes by and shoots a kid,” Franklin said. “It’s a shame.”

Despite the shooting and uncertainty from parents, Franklin said the program, in its first year of existence, would still run.

“The program must go on,” he said. “It must stay here.”

Ferrier said because of the location of police headquarters, Carter Park is probably the most visible area on Northeastern’s campus.

“It’s been a safe park and this was an incident that was not foreseeable or predictable in that area,” Ferrier said.

Still, Cadwell was unconvinced, and as of Tuesday afternoon, he said he hadn’t been approached by any police official. When told the park was not a matter of Northeastern jurisdiction, Cadwell replied, “It’s the safety of kids we’re talking about here, jurisdiction or no jurisdiction.”

The shooting occurred as a number of incoming students and their parents were arriving for one of several orientation sessions throughout the summer.

When Gary and Karen Couture of North Berwick, Maine heard about the shooting, they said they were not any more concerned for their son, Curtis, an incoming freshman.

“In any city there are just places you shouldn’t go,” Gary Couture said. “It’s not anything we can control.”