8-year-old injured after bullets strike Long Island home in drive-by shooting
MEDFORD, N.Y. -- An 8-year-old boy on Long Island is recovering after being struck by a stray bullet during a drive-by shooting.
His Medford home was riddled with bullets as the child slept on the couch.
"I was scared and nervous," said the boy's mother, Iris Maldonado.
The Maldonado home was the scene of a drive-by shooting around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday. Bullets shattered glass and struck siding and window sills. One bullet grazed the left side of Jace's body above his hip.
Jace has since been released from Stony Brook Hospital, and the family grateful that no one was killed.
"The bullets went through a window into the living room area, where our 8-year-old victim was laying on the couch," Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison said.
Maldonado says Jace was on a couch with his cousin.
"Because they were playing, and then when they finished, they were asleep on the couch," Maldonado said.
"Did you hear the gunshots?" CBS New York's Jennifer McLogan asked.
"No, my daughter heard. I was asleep in my room, the air condition was on. I can't hear anything," Maldonado said.
Maldonado says around 10 gunshots riddled the home.
The neighborhood is jarred by the violence.
Although Suffolk Police believe this was a targeted shooting, Maldonado says she does not know who in the home that she rents the bullets were intended for.
The police commissioner visited the Maldonados and met the 8-year-old child recovering at home.
"He pulled up his shirt, he shows the Band-Aid that he had on his left side, and he was saying that he's fine. I told him he is a very courageous young man. Maybe you need to become a police officer down the road," Harrison said.
Suffolk police are looking for tips but vow they will find whoever's responsible and hold them accountable.