SOUTH BOSTON — A 17-year-old wanted for a shooting that put a man in surgery walked around South Boston for six weeks with a loaded gun before police finally caught up with him Friday afternoon.

Officers from District C-6 spotted the teenager at F Street and West Sixth Street at around 4:20 PM on March 28 and took him into custody without incident. In his waistband: a Smith & Wesson M&P Shield, fully loaded, one round already chambered. He is now charged with carrying a firearm without a license, carrying a loaded firearm without a license, and possession of ammunition without a firearm ID card.

Those charges are almost an afterthought given what he was already wanted for.

Back on February 19, just after midnight, police say the same teenager opened fire near West Eighth Street and F Street in South Boston. The victim staggered into Massachusetts General Hospital with gunshot wounds to the arm and chest. Surgeons operated. He survived.

Suffolk County Juvenile Court issued a warrant charging the teen with armed assault to murder, firearm offenses, and discharging a weapon within 500 feet of a building. That warrant was active when he was arrested Friday.

Police have not named the suspect because he is a juvenile. He faces arraignment in South Boston District Court.