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18-Month-Old Girl Shot In Face At Staten Island Playground

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- An 18-month-old girl is fighting for her life after she was shot in the face Wednesday in a playground outside her apartment building in the Mariners Harbor section of Staten Island.

Symia Bailey was sitting in a stroller in the park with her aunt, uncle and father in the courtyard of the Arlington Houses on Holland Avenue when shots rang out shortly before 2 p.m.

1010 WINS' Terry Sheridan reports: Child Caught In The Crossfire

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Witnesses said the babysitter and the girl's father picked the child up and ran for help.

CBS 2's Pablo Guzman reports that less than a half hour after the shooting, a police chase ensued after officers matched the description of the car given to them at the scene.

1010 WINS' Terry Sheridan reports the vehicle was stopped on the West Shore Expressway and four people have been arrested in connection with the shooting.

Police believe one of the four suspects is believed to be the shooter.

Sources told Sheridan the child's father or uncle may have been the intended target of the shooting.

Christian Bailey, the child's uncle, said he comforted the little girl as they sped to the hospital.

"I kept her awake because she was falling asleep so I just kept calling, 'Baby, wake up, I'm here,'" he said.

The little girl is listed in critical but stable condition at Richmond University Medical Center.

"It's a sad situation, it should've never happened," one witness told Guzman.

The investigation is ongoing.

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