BROOKLYN, Conn. -- State police said a 16-year-old boy has been charged with attempted murder after he fired an assault rifle at people playing basketball behind a Brooklyn church.

State police said the teen shooter had an AK-47 rifle, but was subdued by the basketball players who rushed the gunman and wrestled him to the ground Tuesday night.

Police said the shooting occurred shortly after the teen argued with the young people playing on the basketball court behind Our Lady of Lasalette Church.

Troopers said the boy allegedly bragged about having an AK-47 rifle and returned 10 minutes later dressed in black and opened fire.

Police said the teen fired the weapon from the woods about 15 to 20 yards away from the basket ball court.

Channel 3 Eyewitness News reporter Eric Parker reported that blood remained on the ground where police said the basketball players subdued the teen.

The teen was arraigned in a closed courtroom in Danielson on Wednesday.

The boy's parents told Eyewitness News that their son is autistic and has temper problems. They said the gun belonged to his minister father. The father said the teen broke a window to retrieve the gun from a locked room.

"Other people are probably saying he could be a bad person, but I know … he's not a bad person," said the teen's friend, Jarrad Staplins.

The teen was being held in a lockdown unit at a local hospital.

His bond was set at $300,000 and he was scheduled to return to court on May 30.