9 year old New Jersey girl shot outside of grandparents' home

A 9 year old New Jersey girl was playing outside of her grandparents' home when she was shot 3 times by someone in a car. From an article:

A nine-year-old girl is hospitalized after she was shot three times in Trenton on Monday afternoon.

It happened around 3 p.m. on the 200 block of Bellevue Avenue.

Struck by gunfire playing on the sidewalk outside her grandparents’ Trenton home, a nine-year-old girl was hit three times by a spray of bullets police believe were intended for someone else.

“There were shots being fired up in the direction of the block,” says Trenton Police Director Ralph Rivera, Jr. “There was a vehicle that took about nine rounds. We don’t know what role that vehicle is playing right now.”

3 year old and 14 year old Rochester, New York kids hit by "stray" bullets

Two children have been hit by bullets in a Rochester, New York neighborhood. From the article:

The 3-year-old boy who was wounded Monday appears to be an unintended victim of the two shootings that occurred Monday night on Fennimore Avenue, but the same cannot be said of the teen who was wounded, police said today.

“It appears the 14-year-old may’ve been the intended target and that the 3-year-old was struck possibly by a stray shot,” Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda said.

The 3-year-old and 14-year-old, whom relatives identified as Jamal Sanders, remain in critical but stable condition at Women and Children’s Hospital. The 3-year-old suffered a gunshot wound to the chest. The 14-year-old suffered wounds of the neck, back and one leg.

They lived across the street from each other. The shooting apparently happened in a driveway.

14 year old California boy injured by stray bullet while walking home from school

A 14 year old boy was injured by a stray bullet apparently meant for someone else as he walked home from school in Antioch, California:

An Antioch teenager, walking home from school, was wounded in a spray of gunfire Monday afternoon. The 14-year-old boy was on the 1400 block of Sycamore Street, a few blocks from his house, when a bullet struck him in the lower arm.

"Everybody scattered when they heard the shots, everybody scattered," witness Dovie Brown told KTVU.

She heard four shots and came out of her house, to see the boy running in a panic, apparently trying to get home.

Brown and others sat him down on a grassy front yard, as police and paramedics were called.

"He kept saying, 'I'm okay, I'm okay," she recalled, the boy calm as blood ran down his arm.

"I got a towel to wrap it in, " added Brown, "and someone called his mother, and she came running down, and she was really messed-up, I thought she was going to faint, so I tried to comfort her."

"It is an area known for some violence," Antioch Police Lieutenant John Vanderklugt told KTVU.

Witnesses told investigators the bullets came from a man walking on the same side of the street as the victim, who started shooting his handgun at a small, dark, compact car that sped away.

"Our victim was in between the suspect and the vehicle, and that's how our victim was injured," explained Vanderklugt.

14-year-old hit by stray bullet while looking out his window

14-year-old Victor Wilson was looking out the window of his home in Coatesville, Pennsylvania when he was hit by a stray bullet.  According to news reports:

"We have a report of a number of males in the parking lot area and shots were ringing out," said police.
The teen walked to the window when he heard shots and was hit in the stomach.

He was rushed to the hospital where he is listed in stable condition.
Police are still investigating the incident.

A 2 year old Florida boy injured by stray bullet

Another toddler has been injured by gun fire. This Florida 2 year old was being held by his grandpa outside of his home when a stray bullet hit him. From an article:

On Sunday at about 4:30 a.m. the grandfather of the boy, Dreden Davis – who family members identified by his nickname, Shabba – was carrying the toddler outside his house on 75th Street, trying to get Shabba to go back to sleep.

Somebody pulled up and opened fire. Shabba was hit on the top of his head. His father Andre Davis, who was sitting inside his vehicle, was grazed, police said.

“Anybody that can open fire when there’s a baby around, they don't have no remorse, they don't have a heart at all, and I just want him brought to justice, that's all,” said his grandmother, Truda Hanna.

5-year old Nebraska girl shot to death during drive-by stray bullet

5-year old Payton Benson (source)

A 5-year old girl, Payton Benson, was sitting down to eat breakfast in her home in Omaha,
Nebraska.  A block away, someone in a car with three people opened fire with a handgun and a high-powered rifle.  One of those shots entered Payton's home and hit her.  She died from her wounds.

The family car also had its tires flattened, preventing Payton's mother from driving her to the hospital.

Most likely it was gang-related.  The girl had recently moved from Chicago to get away from gun violence.

From an article, which also has video and images of the shooters and their car:

A 5-year-old Omaha girl was gunned down as she ate breakfast inside her home Wednesday - felled by a stray bullet during a drive-by shooting. 

Cops responded to reports of a hail of gunfire near 45th and Emmett Sts. around 9:45 a.m. to find little Payton Benson critically wounded, police said in a statement. 

The girl later died at a hospital. 

The fatal bullet was fired from more than a city block away, Police Chief Todd Schmaderer said Wednesday evening at a press conference. The area has recently been rife with gang violence and shootings. 

The little girl was the city's first homicide victim of the year, he said. 

"No one inside Payton's house or anyone associated with the house was the intended target," Schmaderer said. .... 

Little Payton, who’d moved with her mother from crime-stricken Chicago, was also the grandniece of Omaha City Councilman Ben Gray. 

Cops believe three suspects blasted the house with a handgun and high-powered rifle as they drove past in a dark-colored Jeep Commander, the Omaha World Herald reported.

Bullets don't know when to stop.

Father arrested for shooting & killing daughter

34-year-old Deandre Kelley, of Cincinnati, Ohio, has been charged with reckless homicide in connection with the shooting death of his daughter, 11-year-old Shanti Lanza.  According to reports:

On Sunday, police say Deandre Kelley arrived home intoxicated after 2 a.m. His girlfriend of 15 years, and mother of Shanti, forced Kelley out of the house, where he fired four shots into the air.

One of those bullets ended up in a second story bedroom of the house. Shanti Lanza was in the room. The bullet struck her in the chest.

Shanti was transported to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Antwone Kelley said his brother left the scene without knowing what happened in the second floor bedroom until he found out he was wanted. Antwone was one of the people who spoke with Deandre, convincing him to surrender to police.

"It was a bunch of crying. He didn't mean to do it. What more can I say? He didn't mean to do it," said Antwone.

15-year old Florida boy shot while riding his bike

15-year old Onardo Bent (source)

15-year old Onardo Bent was riding his bike to his home when he was shot in the side, in west Orlando,
Florida, in what may have been a stray bullet incident.  He is now in critical condition.

From an article:

Onardo Bent, 15, was struck in the torso just before 9:30 a.m., while riding a short distance to his uncle’s home in the 4800 block of Leprechaun Way, in the Pine Hills area.

The teen, who remains in critical condition, fell unconscious in the home and was unable to provide information regarding the shooting.

Yesterday, at a news conference, his sister, Odeika Bent appealed to the public for information regarding the circumstances surrounding her brother’s shooting.

Onardo could have been hit by a stray bullet, but to date, no one has come forward.

Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings also joined the family in appealing to the public for help and called for “justice for the person responsible for shooting this young man.”

Onardo was an honor student at Oak Ridge High School and a good athlete, his family said.

Bullets don't know when to stop.

11 year old Rochester, NY boy shot by stray bullet

A street gunfight resulted in the injury of an 11 year old boy on a Sunday morning in New York.  From an article:

Two people were charged Monday in connection with a Sunday morning shooting that wounded a child near Chili Avenue and Thurston Road. According to police, the 11-year-old boy is recovering at Strong Hospital, surrounded by family. The second victim has been arrested. 29-year-old Quentin Singletary, of Rochester, was charged with criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. Police said Singletary took part in the gun exchange that got him and the boy shot. Singletary got hit in the upper body and is expected to survive. Dominique Williams, 27, was also arrested, charged with criminal possession of a weapon in the third. Williams was not at the shooting scene but police said officers later recovered the gun inside the home she shares with Singletary. (...) 

Police believe the third suspect knows Singletary and an argument escalated to the shooting. “The fact that this occurred on a Sunday at 10:30 in the morning, personally, I think it’s atrocious,” Sheppard said. “I think this neighborhood has to feel the same way and we’re hoping that once we push this information and push this photo someone will come forward." The 11-year-old is not connected to any of the suspects, police said he was in the wrong place and the wrong time and got caught in the crossfire.

Bullets don't know where to stop.

Stray bullet strikes New Jersey school bus

A bus carrying 3-5 year old children was struck by a stray bullet in Camden, New Jersey. From the article:

A stray bullet, apparently fired during a gang confrontation, struck a school bus in Camden on Thursday afternoon, frightening a busload of 27 preschool children.

One mother reported that her young son suffered a burn mark on his back from a shard that came from the bus window that was shattered. The bullet lodged in the ceiling of the bus, according to authorities.

The child, who was not identified, was treated at a hospital, Camden County Police Chief Scott Thomson said during a 6 p.m. news conference outside police headquarters.

Thomson said the shooting was gang-related and called the at-large shooter a "public enemy." He said a $20,000 reward was being offered for tips leading to his arrest.

"This guy is Public Enemy No. 1," Thomson said. "He clearly displayed sociopathic behavior by firing a rifle in broad daylight in a densely populated area, with an oncoming bus full of children. . . . We need to get him off the streets."

Thomson said the bus was carrying pupils between the ages of 3 and 5, and was leaving the Centerville Abbott Head Start school at 1475 S. Eighth St. to make a series of drop-offs.

Little children should be able to ride in a school bus without fear of being hit by stray bullets.

1 year old New York City toddler shot in stroller

A 1 year old sitting in his stroller as his parents walked him was shot and killed by a stray bullet:

A 1-year-old boy in a stroller was fatally shot in the face as his parents pushed him across a city street, and police continued looking for the gunman Monday.

Antiq Hennis and his parents were walking across a street in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn at about 7:20 p.m. Sunday when shots were fired and the boy was hit, police said. Investigators have yet to determine who was the intended target, and no arrests have been made, police said Monday.

"I heard three to four shots. ... I saw a man with a stroller screaming: 'My baby got shot! My baby got shot,' " witness Gina Gamboa, 23, told the New York Post (bit.ly/1fsZnns).

"He was going crazy."

The boy was rushed to Brookdale University Hospital with a gunshot wound to the left side of his face, but he was declared dead when he arrived, authorities said.

Bishop Willie Billips of the Church of Faith, Hope and Charity, who knows the boy's father, told newspapers that he drove the parents to the hospital to identify the body of their only child.

"I'm furious about what I've just seen. I'm outraged," Billips told the Daily News (http://nydn.us/14c05G3 ). "A 1-year-old baby lying on the bed? It's horrible."

The boy's family could not immediately be reached.

"The family is shocked and devastated," City Councilman Charles Barron told the Daily News after talking with Antiq's parents. "The child didn't even get a chance to start his life, and now it's over."

It was at least the second case of a toddler being shot to death in a stroller this year.

In March, a woman walking home from a post office in Brunswick, Ga., with her 13-month-old son was accosted by a gunman who demanded her purse, then shot her in the leg and fired a shot at the child in his stroller after she told him she had no money, authorities said.

An 18-year-old man was convicted Friday of murder in the death of Antonio Santiago despite his attorney's attempts to cast guilt upon several others, including the child's parents.

7-year old Chicago boy shot by stray bullet

Seven-year old Tyvion Jackson had just returned from a picnic, in Chicago, and was walking on street while carrying a bicycle, when he was hit by a stray bullet under his arm and shoulder, in what may have been a gang shooting.

Luckily he will survive.  The shooter escaped, but a suspect has been captured.

From an article:

Police said a group standing on a corner down the block from the home in 4200 block of West Fifth Avenue began arguing with someone sitting in a car. Someone from the group pulled out a gun and opened fire. 

McDuffie had just made it in her house when she heard the shots. Tyvion was shot while he was helping his cousin bring her bike up some steps. 

"He just placed his arms up and said he had been shot," she said. "He heard the shots and he felt (the) shot in his arm." 

The gunman fled north. Police say they are questioning a person of interest. 

McDuffie said she became panic-stricken when she couldn't quickly find her cell phone to call 911. "My daughter had to call an ambulance," McDuffie said. 

McDuffie said doctors expect him to make a full recovery. 

Police said the shooting occurred in an area where the Four Corner Hustlers street gang has been embroiled in a conflict with several other gangs as well as feuding internally. .... 

McDuffie said she's lived in her two-story brick house for two years but Sunday night's shooting may have been the final straw. 

"Now he can't come outside," McDuffie said of Tyvion. "We have to move."

Bullets don't know when to stop.

2 year old Alabama boy shot in fight between two women

A 2 year old was shot in a squabble between 2 women. From an article:

A child was shot and a woman stabbed in Tuscaloosa during what started as a fight between two women, Tuscaloosa police confirm.

The two women got into a fight around 1 p.m. Thursday at the Forrester Gardens Apartments off of James Harrison Parkway on Thursday afternoon, according to Tuscaloosa Police Chief Steve Anderson.

A press release issued by Tuscaloosa PD on Friday states one 33-year-old woman was stabbed once in the upper arm. Another altercation followed the first and a different female made an attempt to stab the 33-year-old female. The two suspects then left the area.

Afterward, a 33-year-old male fired two shots into an apartment he thought contained one of the suspects. One shot hit a 2-year-old boy in the lower body area. The child was taken to Children's of Alabama Hospital. His condition is unknown, but his injuries do not appear to be life threatening.

Javorris Connor, 33, is facing a first degree assault charge and a charge of discharging a firearm into an occupied building.

Shakiki Hill, 27, has been charged with attempted murder.

Charda Brown, 25, has been charged with second degree assault.

7-year old Michigan girl unintentionally shot by conceal carry gun owner target shooting next door

A 7-year old girl, Abby Wrobel, and her 2-year old sister, Ella, were swimming in a pool in

Abby Wrobel, age 7, at the scene of the shooting

Tekonsha, Michigan, when suddenly a .9mm bullet ripped through Abby's arm.

The shot had been fired from 180 meters away, in a field next door, where a man in his 30's, who is a conceal carry gun owner, was target shooting.

Abby is recovering.

From an article:

The Michigan man was practicing firing his 9mm handgun when the last bullet missed the target and traveled across a cornfield before hitting Abby Wrobel on Tuesday.  

She had been playing in the family's swimming pool in Tekonsha when the bullet ripped into her arm and narrowly missed hitting Abby's two-year-old sister Ella who was standing next to her.  

Her mother, Jodi Scherer, told Newschannel 3: ' I could have easily lost a child ...it’s just scary.' 

She added: 'It came from the field and actually hit her up here, I mean how does that happen?' 

The mother-of-six said her children had been playing by the swimming pool when they suddenly started screaming and running.  

'I ran up and Abby said, "I’ve been shot!",' Ms Scherer said.  

Her daughter described the moment she was shot as 'like a firework going into my arm'. 

The bullet went straight through her arm and fortunately did not damage any bones. 

Ms Scherer wants her neighbor, who has three children of his own, to be prosecuted. 'I mean, you can literally hear my kids playing at that house down there when they're outside. So he knew there were kids down there, he should have never been shooting this way,' she said.

Bullets don't know when to stop.

5 year old shot by gun owner using gun as a "crutch"

Thanks to the Ohh Shoot blog for providing us with this tragic story. A five year old Oregon girl was

Alysa Bobbitt

senselessly shot by a man in the apartment above when he used his AK-47 as a crutch to get up from his couch. From the blog post:

30-year-old Jon Andrew Meyer, Jr. was visiting friends in Grants Pass, Oregon. He told police that he was using his assault rifle as a crutch to help him get up from a couch when he unintentionally discharged the gun.

The gun burst went through the ceiling and hit 5-year-old Alysa Bobbitt and another woman who were in a room upstairs. They were taken to the hospital for treatment.

Alysa, who was shot in the head, died of her injuries. The woman, who was shot in the torso, is expected to recover.

Meyer was arrested and charged with manslaughter, assault and illegal possession of a machine gun. Police did not say if the assault rifle had been manufactured as fully automatic or if it had been modified later. However, Meyer's lawyer said Meyer had been assured the gun was not fully automatic when he bought it. 

Reports indicate that at the time of the shooting Meyer was the subject of a restraining order that was taken out by his fiancee. In the petition she described him as an unpredictable drug addict who had threatened her with a gun. Reports do no indicate if the judge had barred Meyer from possessing guns as a result of the restraining order.

We don't usually comment on our stories but it is hard not to say that this case was a totally senseless and avoidable shooting. Little girls should not get shot while sitting in their apartments by a careless person with a gun.

4-year old South Carolina girl shot by stray bullet from outside her home

Zahara Walker, age 5

4-year old Zahara Walker was innocently watching TV in her Columbia, South Carolina, when a bullet entered her home and hit her.

The bullet was likely fired by Marcus Gantt, who is caught on video firing multiple shots at a passing vehicle.

Luckily, Zahara survived her wound and is now out of intensive care.

From an article and news video, including video of Gantt firing the shots:

[Zahara's father] says even though he knows the history of violence at the Colony Apartments, he never expected his daughter to be impacted by it.

"She had tubes in her mouth.  Tubes in her nose," Walker said.  "I didn't think it would happen to my daughter. But it's always violent out there."

Walker says he doesn't recognize or know Marcus Gantt, the suspect charged in connection with the case. Police say Gantt fired shots at people inside a silver Dodge Charger. During the exchange of gunfire, a stray bullet hit Zahara inside her home.

"It shouldn't be happening in no neighborhood," Walker said.  "You're guiding the kids the wrong way.  You're teaching them to be thugs.  Teach them to play basketball.  Tell them to pick up a book.  Influence them to do good and not bad."

.

More kids shot over the past 5 days

It's been hard to keep up with all the shootings of and by kids in the last week or so. We refer you again to Joe Nocera's Gun Report in the New York Times. In the July 10th report, Nocera reports on 2 children injured in Washington state and 2 in Virginia. In the July 11th report, more child shootings occurred. From his article:

A 1-year-old boy and a 7-month-old boy were shot on the front porch of a home in Hampton, Va., late Wednesday. The boys were with a caregiver when they were both struck in the torso. A nearby house and car were pockmarked with bullets after the shooting. Anyone with information is urged to call police.

—Wavy.com

A 4-year-old girl is in critical condition after being shot by a stray bullet while watching television in Columbia, S.C., Monday night. According to preliminary reports, shots may have been fired between a group of people on foot and a silver Dodge charger near the Colony Apartments. Police have released surveillance video of the suspects.

—Columbia Patch

Tyrese Short, 9, was killed in a drive-by shooting in St. Louis, Mo., early Wednesday. The boy was a passenger in a car with his father and two others when he was shot in the head. Officials have not released details on possible suspects.

—KSDK.com

Logan Allen, 15, died Wednesday morning after being accidentally shot Tuesday at a home in Edina, Mo. Officials say Allen and a couple of other boys were hanging out when Allen was accidentally shot in the back of the head with a .22-caliber firearm.

—HeartlandConnection.com

That's 3 injured and 2 dead in one day. States where these occurred- Missouri, South Carolina, and Virginia.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

1 year old Tennessee boy injured

We are reporting on yet another shooting of a baby. This one, in Tennessee, involved an apparent stray bullet which came through a home and hit the little boy in the head:

Jackson police are investigating a shooting that injured a 1-year-old boy at The Villages at Old Hickory Apartments, at 550 Old Hickory Blvd., shortly before 11 p.m. Monday.

A bullet came into the child's apartment from outside, hitting the boy in the head, investigators said. The bullet fractured the child's skull, but did not hit his brain, police said.

The child was taken to Jackson-Madison County General Hospital in critical condition and was awaiting transfer to Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis late Monday night.

Police said the shooter was in a small red small car, possibly a Fiat. Witnesses told police there were three black men in dark clothes in the car. No arrests were made Monday night.

Police said a burglary was reported at the same apartment earlier Monday and they were investigating whether the burglary and the shooting were connected.

Witnesses said they heard one or two rounds fired.

Little children should be safe from stray bullets flying around on their streets.

9-year old Bronx girl hit by stray bullet shot by 17-year old boy

Amanda Chavan, age 9

9-year old Amanda Chavan was playing in front of her grandmother's home with 5-year old little brother, Gustavo, in the Bronx, New York.

That's when a 17-year old boy, Billy James, Jr., riding on a bicycle, is believed to have opened fire, aiming at another person.  But one of the bullets hit Amanda in the stomach.  She was rushed to the hospital, where she is recovering.

From an article and news video:

Authorities released a photo of Billy James Jr., whom they are calling a person of interest in the case. 

According to police, a person between 15 and 20 years old riding a BMX-style bicycle fired several rounds, hitting the girl who was playing in front of a building on Bailey Avenue in Kingsbridge at around 9:45 p.m. 

Shooter, Billy James, Jr. age 17

The girl, who was struck in the torso, is not believed to have been the intended target. She is recovering at Jacobi Medical Center.

According to a related article with more pictures of the young victim, Amanda is afraid to go home now.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

Two small children and mother narrowly missed when target shooters hit their home in Indiana

A woman and her two small children were at home in Porter County, Indiana, when a bullet entered their home, narrowly missing them.  It was shot by neighbors who were target-shooting without a backstop.

No charges.

From an article:

A woman and two small children reportedly narrowly missed being struck by a stray bullet Thursday evening in the 300 block of Pepper Creek Drive in Porter County's Union Township. According to an article in the Times, authorities believe the bullet came from a couple who were target shooting at watermelon without a backstop 18-hundred feet away. No arrests were made, but police did confiscate the handguns used in the incident, and forwarded charges of criminal recklessness against the couple to prosecutors for consideration.

Bullets don't know when to stop.