Girl, 12, Hit By Stray Bullet In Hempstead Home
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Police said a 12-year-old girl was reported in "grave" condition after being wounded by a stray bullet in Hempstead, Long Island late Friday.
As CBS2's Dave Carlin reported, police said the girl – identified by family members as Daisy Joyner – was wounded in the head around 5 p.m. inside a home on Dartmouth Street late Friday, police said.
"They said, 'Well, they shot up your son's house ,' and I said, 'What?' And he said, 'Your granddaughter was hit in the head.' And after that, that's when I left out the store and I got down to the other store, and couple friends came to me and told me same thing," said her grandfather, David Joyner, as he broke down.
His beloved granddaughter was spending the evening where she should have felt safest – in the living room of her family's home. But a she was wounded when a bullet pierced the door.
"It is a single shot, we have determined, that came from the street in front of that location and enters through a front plate glass window -- enters through that window and then strikes the girl while she was standing in the living room," said Nassau County police Detective Sgt. James Skopek.
Daisy's parents were in a back room when she was struck by the bullet, police said. She was taken to Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, where Skopek reported she was in "grave" condition.
"A very horrific situation on this 12-year-old girl," Skopek said. "Her family is with her now at Winthrop. The condition right now is grave."
Detectives do not believe the girl was the intended target, but they said they do not yet know if the shot came during a gang-related quarrel or a drive-by shooting.
"Very lovable; beautiful girl; beautiful personality," David Joyner said as he described his granddaughter.
The community was coming together late Friday to find the gunman. The girl's friends and classmates will be offered counseling.
"(There will be) social workers to speak to the students to help them get over the trauma of what happened," said Hempstead Schools President Lamat Johnson. "It shouldn't have happened. It's been happening much too often. I'm very disappointed at this happening."
As of 11 p.m., the girl was undergoing surgery and remained in very critical condition, officials said.
Nassau County police asked anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers at (800) 244-TIPS.
