Girl, 8, in critical condition after being shot in Sacramento
SACRAMENTO – An active investigation is underway in a Sacramento neighborhood after an eight-year-old girl was found shot early Tuesday morning.
The scene was along Kit Carson Street, near Revere Street off of Muir Way.
Sacramento police say officers responded around 4:45 a.m. to investigate reports of a shooting. There, a juvenile was found with an apparent gunshot wound.
Officers say the juvenile was alert and talking when she was transported to the hospital. She is in critical condition, police say. Exactly what led up to the girl being shot is still under investigation.
Sacramento police said the girl was returning home with her father after dropping the mother off at work.
"Things have not changed. Unfortunately, September, I was here at the scene of a man murdered and then a week later at the scene with two women being shot at this exact same corridor," said community advocate Berry Accius.
The Alder Grove housing complex isn't a stranger to gun violence.
"I heard somebody start screaming and I came outside to find my neighbor's daughter shot," resident Melissa Cromwell said.
Neighbors and advocates told CBS13 that they've been asking for security, speed bumps, better lighting and cameras for months.
"There's too much violence. Every month or every other month, it's somebody getting killed," said another resident, Claudine Smith.
We reached out to the Sacramento Housing Redevelopment Agency, which manages the property. They did not answer questions regarding the community's ask for help but said they are working with police to provide information needed to aid in the investigation.
We also reached out to Sacramento City Councilmember Katie Valenzuela represents the district where the shooting happened. We reached out to Valenzuela's office, and while she didn't get back to us directly, she did post on social media saying, in part:
"We have been in communication with the Sacramento Police Department, the Office of Violence Prevention, our Youths Parks and Community Enrichment team, SHRA, and local community leaders today about making a plan to intervene and provide community members safe places to recreate this holiday weekend."
Sacramento police say they have no suspect in custody and are unsure of a motive or whether or not it was a targeted shooting.
"Let me be explicitly clear. There's nothing that would justify this 8-year-old girl in the hospital fighting for her life," Officer Anthony Gamble said. "The community should be hurt. The police department is hurt. We're hurting for the family of this 8-year-old fighting for her life."
There was another shooting in this same area just the day before. Police are investigating if there's any correlation
"I'm already doing a vigil for an 18-year-old, and I'm hoping I don't have to do a vigil for an 8-year-old," Accius said. "It frustrates me because things could have been done to possibly prevent it."
One woman who lives at the complex says it's hard to differentiate between the gunshots and fireworks this time of year. She worries for all the kids who live there.
"They're children. They didn't ask to be here," Tii Trice said. "They didn't ask for pain. They didn't ask for any of this."