9-year-old shot was ‘caught in the crossfire’ while in parking lot, Alabama cops say
A 9-year-old girl was shot in the neck after she was “caught in the crossfire” between two gunmen in a parking lot, Alabama police said.
Officers with the Community Safety Partnership Unit were patrolling the Birmingham area around 3:39 p.m. Nov. 10 when they were alerted by community members about a child shot in the Morton Simpson Housing Community, according to the Birmingham Police Department.
Police said they found a girl in the backseat of a car with an apparent gunshot wound. She had been shot in the neck, AL.com reported.
The girl was transported to Children’s Hospital of Alabama with life-threatening injuries, police said.
McClatchy News reached out to police and hospital staff but could not confirm her condition at this time.
Preliminary evidence suggests that the child was standing outside of a car in a parking lot when shots were fired between two men, police said.
“As adults, we have to stop putting our children into situations where they can be injured,” Sgt. Rod Mauldin with the Birmingham Police Department told AL.com. “We have to look out for our youth. We have to look out for our elderly.”
One person is in custody and is being questioned by detectives, according to police.
Anyone who has information about the shooting can call the Birmingham Police Department Homicide Unit at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.
Anonymous tips can also be submitted to Crime Stoppers via the Birmingham Police Department’s mobile app.
Investigators are continuing to “interview witnesses, review physical and electronic records, and analyze forensic evidence,” police said.
“This happened in broad daylight and at a time when kids are getting out of school, so we have to do better in terms of individuals and people being better and not willing to shoot each other,” David A. Northern Sr., president and CEO of the Birmingham Housing Authority, told AL.com. “I don’t care what we do, if people are willing to shoot during the daytime ... no matter what we do, if the citizens in our community overall and the city overall ... don’t make the decision to drop the guns down, no matter what we do, this will still continue to happen.”
Birmingham is about 90 miles northwest of Montgomery.
This story was originally published November 11, 2021 at 6:28 PM with the headline "9-year-old shot was ‘caught in the crossfire’ while in parking lot, Alabama cops say."
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