15-year-old girl struck by stray bullet inside home in St. Albans, Queens
NEW YORK -- A 15-year-old Queens girl is recovering after being struck by a stray bullet as she sat in her home on Tuesday night.
Police continue to search for those responsible, as the victim's St. Albans community reels from the violence.
CBS2's Aundrea Cline-Thomas spoke to the victim's father and has more on what happened.
"Around 11 o'clock I (heard) some noise outside. They fired shots. My daughter said, 'I'm affected,'" Mohammad Hossain said of his daughter, 15-year-old Tamima Samira.
A stray bullet struck Samira in the right leg and the teenager was sitting in her dining room at her home on 113th Road.
Police said commotion outside led to a bullet going through the front door and piercing a wall inside the home.
"You know, like the fireworks. Boom, boom, boom, the sound like that," neighbor Rifat Jahan said.
As a result, gun violence is terrifying yet another city community.
"I'm worried about my safety, and also my family. You know, what might happen while we're out?" a neighbor said. "And if we're coming back, what might happen?"
Houssain said his family has lived in the area for three years with no problems, and he does not believe his home was targeted.
"In the last years, nobody bothered me. I'm not bothering anybody. I have no enemies," Hossain said.
He added it's a neighborhood where residents know each other.
As for Hossain's daughter, she is now recovering at home. The teenager left a note on the front door saying she had no comment.
Despite all that has happened to her, Samira, a 10th grader at Bronx High School of Science, is focusing on studying for her exams.
Police spent Wednesday canvassing the neighborhood trying to see if there was any surveillance video that captured the shooting.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or via DM on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.
