Every year, nearly 3000 children and teens die from gunfire, and nearly 14,000 are injured.

Monday, July 29, 2013

4 year old Florida child injured in drive-by shooting

A 4 year old Florida boy is injured because of a drive-by shooting. From an article:
A person of interest has been named in the investigation into a drive-by shooting that left a 4-year-old boy injured.
Investigators want to speak with 20-year-old Horatio Papillion. They say he may have been in the vehicle that drove by the home and opened fire.
It's a house that sits on a busy Bradenton street and shares property with a church.
It's quite possibly the last place you'd expect to be targeted by drive-by shooters in broad daylight.
But that's exactly what happened just after 11 a.m. Saturday to a house at the intersection of 26th Street and 36th Avenue West, leaving behind bullet holes and a very young victim.
"One of the rounds hit entered through a window and struck a 4-year-old boy," said Manatee County Sheriff Brad Steube.
That unidentified boy was flown to All-Children's Hospital where he was listed in stable condition.
He's expected to survive.
"It's a 4 door orange either Dodge Charger or Challenger with spinning wheels," said Steube.
Damon Walpole lives on 36th Avenue not too far from where the shooting took place.
"Right there, I mean that's right on 26th street, that's really right out in the open that's pretty brazen," said Walpole.
So close that his wife heard the shots and thought it was something far different.
"I was brushing my teeth and my wife came in and asked if I threw some firecrackers at her," said Walpole.
Walpole has been living on his street for 10 years and describes his neighborhood as an average, quiet community.
He says the fact that his son Jeremiah is the same age as the victim in this case makes it that much harder for him.
"It's scary, it could have been my little guy had he been in the front yard or something, it's pretty unnerving," said Walpole.
Investigators say they believe the house was targeted.
Random or not, Walpole says violence like this needs to stop.
"It seems like the pressure of the world is getting to a lot of people," said Walpole.
The boy's mother was home at the time of the shooting but was not injured.
Four year olds should be safe from bullets on the streets and in their homes.

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