A 6-year-old girl remained in the hospital Wednesday morning after a stray bullet struck her and critically injured her in her Philadelphia neighborhood Tuesday night. The girl’s aunt said she suffered a collapsed lung and other serious injuries. NBC10’s Matt DeLucia is outside St. Christopher’s Hospital with more on the girl’s condition and the hunt for the gunman.
A 6-year-old girl remained in a Philadelphia hospital Wednesday morning, recovering from serious injuries caused by a stray bullet that tore through her torso in a hail of gunfire outside her home Tuesday night.
Authorities said the girl remained in critical condition Wednesday at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, but was stabilized overnight. As she continued to recover, police hunted for the shooter -- or shooters -- they say are responsible for unleashing nearly two dozen gunshots on a residential block of Woodstock Street near Medary Avenue in East Germantown.
One bullet that police said they don't believe was meant for the child found its way under her arm and into her torso as she sat on the front steps of her home with a relative. Police found the little girl unresponsive, lying on the sidewalk.
"The bullet went under her left arm, her left armpit area. That is a bad spot to be hit by gunfire," Chief Inspector Scott Small told NBC10 at the scene.
Doctors performed emergency surgery on the little girl overnight.
Her aunt told NBC10's Matt DeLucia that she suffered a collapsed lung and other serious injuries, including broken ribs, as a result of the gunshot wound.
The child is expected to survive.
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
Police are investigating whether a shooting a block away and a short time later may also be connected in some way to the shootout that left the child injured.
Poilce found a car with bullet holes in it at 21st Street and Chelten Avenue and then followed a blood trail to nearby Norwood Street, where they found a man with gunshot wounds to his arm and leg. That man is in stable condition at a local hospital, and both shootings remain under investigation.
Anyone with information in either shooting is asked to contact Northwest Detectives at 215-686-3353, the police tip line at 215-686-8477 or text a tip to PPD TIP (773847).
