A seven-year-old girl was shot in broad daylight Monday in a gang-related shooting incident in Harlem, authorities said.
The girl was walking down the sidewalk on West 145th Street near Bradhurst Avenue when two men jumped out from behind a parked car and opened fire around 2:50 p.m. local time. The girl was hit in the abdomen by a stray bullet.
The child was immediately rushed to Harlem Hospital by police, where she underwent surgery and was listed in stable condition, per NBC New York.
"When I ran up, I saw the cops carrying the girl to a patrol car. and then her dad was inconsolable that's all I remember I had to calm her dad down," Angel Casanova, a witness, told ABC 7.
Was the Girl Targeted by the Shooters?
Investigators believe the girl was not the intended target and that the shooters were aiming at two men who were members of a rival gang. The suspects were quickly taken into custody. Authorities have recovered one firearm but are still searching for a second gun.
Police said at least nine rounds were fired in the altercation. Seven shell casings were found at the scene. A video on the Citizen App also showed bullets outside a shattered glass window at a nearby Starbucks where the child was hit.
Gun Violence Against Children
The shooting is the latest in the growing number of cases of gun violence against children. So far this year, there have been 206 children killed and 478 injured in gun violence-related crimes. Among teens, the figures go up to 1,005 killed and 2,828 injured, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive.
One of those cases involved the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Xavier Navarez last week. Police from the 40th Precinct in the Bronx were called to Beekman Avenue and Oak Terrace in Mott Haven on the evening of Nov. 9 about an assault in progress. When they arrived, Navarez was already lying on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds to his back, AMNY reported.
The teen was rushed to Lincoln Hospital but passed away later that night. Police have yet to determine what led up to the shooting.
