4-year-old shot in Vallejo as mother drives through gunbattle
VALLEJO, Calif. - A 4-year-old girl was shot and critically wounded when she and her mother were caught in a shootout in Vallejo.
The shooting was reported around 8:30 p.m. in the area of Mark Avenue and Sawyer Street as the young girl was riding in a car driven by her mother.
The gunbattle appeared to have been between people on the street and others in a car. Several more rounds were fired a block away at Sawyer and Gateway.
The young girl's mother was driving through the shootout when the 4-year-old was struck. Her mother drove her straight to a local hospital.
Vallejo police were already in the area serving a search warrant in an unrelated incident in the Crest neighborhood when officers heard the gunfire.
Authorities said dozens of rounds were fired from at least four guns.
Harold Dees, who grew up in Vallejo, said he was in shock.
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"You've offended and hurt somebody that couldn't defend themselves. What kind of coward are you that you pick on people like that?" he said. "We don't respect each other. You have to live in this certain parameter to be able to be respected and protected. And it shouldn't be that way."
The girl was transferred to Children's Hospital in Oakland, where she is being treated for serious injuries.
Her grandmother told KTVU, "We do thank Jesus that she is in the land of the living."
Vallejo police are investigating.
"This is a senseless act of violence and has left a mark on the Vallejo community. Our officers are determined to bring those responsible to justice," said Sgt. Rashad Hollis.
One man who was in the area when the shooting happened initially thought the gunshots were fireworks.
"I counted about 30 casings that they already put the cones out on. Looked farther down and saw this whole area full of cones," he said. "Something's gotta stop."
A woman who lived in the neighborhood described hearing what she thought were machine guns.
"It sounded like it was never going to stop," she said.
She said her son is lucky to be alive.
"There's a bullet that went through my house, through the wall, onto my couch where my 8-year-old son was sitting," the woman said.
Police and residents said there has been an uptick in violence in the Crest neighborhood, including a shooting on New Year's.