Girl, 6, struck by stray bullet while biking with family in south Minneapolis
MINNEAPOLIS -- A 6-year-old girl was hit by a stray bullet Monday evening while riding her bike with family in south Minneapolis.
The Minneapolis Police Department says the shooting happened around 5:15 p.m. near the intersection of 18th Avenue South and East 24th Street, just south of East Phillips Park.
Officers aided the young victim at the scene before an ambulance brought her to an area hospital. She is expected to survive.
Investigators say the girl was struck by a stray bullet from a shootout between two men across 24th Street. No other injuries have been reported.
Police spoke with witnesses at the scene and are working to find the shooters. So far, no arrests have been made.
Donna Bredow was at the park with her 6-year-old grandson when the shooting occurred.
"At first I thought it was firecrackers, then I kept hearing more and more, and it wouldn't stop. Somebody said it was like one of those handguns, something like that. Not a handgun, but one of those automatics," Bredow said. "I knew afterwards what happened because people were just scattering everywhere."
Bredow also described her grandson's reaction to the shooting.
"He just kept saying, 'We didn't die, we didn't get shot grandma, we're OK,' stuff like that," she said.
The shooting has activist K.G. Wilson furious that children keep getting hurt in gun violence.
"I don't know what to call them these gangs [or] these thugs," he said. "Whoever these people are, who have no care or concern for life not even the life of innocent children.
Wilson's granddaughter Aniya Allen was hit and killed by a stray bullet in May 2021. There are still no suspects in the case and police have made no arrests.
He said people with information need to come forward and the people responsible need to be taken off the streets.
"Other children probably saw what happened," he said. "They're terrified. They probably can't go out to play today because of what happened yesterday and I think that the children need to see the adults respond behind this."
Wilson said he plans to be at East Phillips Park Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. and encourages everyone to join him.
By WCCO's count, the girl is at least the sixth child under the age of 15 shot in Minneapolis alone this year. A 2-year-old boy was shot in the face in a Minneapolis apartment in March. A 10-year-old boy was shot and killed in Minneapolis in April. The parents of a 3-year-old boy face charges after he was shot in June. And two teens were shot in two separate incidents in July.
There have been 37 people under the age of 18 so far in 2022, according to Minneapolis police. The age group ranging from 17 to 21 years old accounts for nearly 20% of this year's 367 gunshot wound victims in the city to date.