The Birmingham Police Department is investigating the shooting of an eight-year-old in Gate City. In a video statement, Officer Truman Fitzgerald reported that BPD is on the scene of shots fired and a juvenile shot.
Around 9 p.m. on Sunday, East Precinct officers responded to multiple Shot Spotter alerts in the Gate City area. Officers were updated that an adult female was shot and a juvenile arrived at Fire Station 12 suffering from a gunshot wound.
Once officers arrived at Gate City, they found multiple spent shell casings in the roadway. Officers learned that the adult female was not shot and instead was injured in the aftermath of the shots-fired incident.
Officers responded to Fire Station 12 where they located an eight-year-old girl suffering from a gunshot wound. Birmingham Fire & Rescue transported the victim to Children’s Hospital where she remains in stable condition.
Officer Fitzgerald says BPD believes upwards of 70 rounds were fired in the Gate City area. It is believed that the young girl was in a vehicle with her loved ones when someone fired shots that entered the vehicle and hit her.
BPD does not believe anyone in the vehicle was being targeted. No other details are available at this time.
Jay Skelton is an independent crime journalist with a passion for covering the uncovered and the under covered.