A family is devastated after a shooting on the night of October 1st, 2024, left a six-year-old girl severely wounded and her 19-year-old neighbor injured in Dennery.
Police are investigating the incident, which occurred at approximately 8:30 PM.
According to the mother of the injured 19-year-old, her son was sitting on the porch of their home when a gunman opened fire from behind the galvanized fence surrounding the property.
In what she described as a “barrage of bullets,” the shooter breached the yard, aiming to finish what he started.
“After the person shot him ( the 19-year-old) from behind the gate, the person came in the yard. When I start screaming, the person end up going, and my son come and tell me he got shot,” the mother told reporters.
She disclosed that her son sustained three gunshot wounds, two to his right leg and one to his right arm.
They later discovered that the six-year-old, a neighbour’s child who was asleep inside the house, had also sustained gunshot injuries.
The mother of the teenage shooting victim was looking after the child and her brother in the absence of their parents.
She stated that the six-year-old girl was sleeping on the floor along with her older brother when bullets penetrated the wooden walls of the house.
The girl sustained four gunshot wounds, including one to her face.
The mother recalled finding two of the child’s teeth on the floor on Wednesday morning.
She expressed deep concern for her family’s safety following the incident.
“Before, my son was following bad company… , I will not lie to say it. But when I end up talking to him, he get a change in him. As the officer tell me, he is the target.”
She also expressed fear that the shooter may return and called for stricter penalties for gun-related crimes. “We have to put the guns down; innocent people are getting shot.”
Miriam, the grandmother of the child who was shot, echoed the call for an end to the violence that has gripped their community, pleading for peace after the senseless shooting.
The six-year-old girl and the 19-year-old who sustained gunshot injuries were both rushed to a medical facility on Tuesday night while police continued investigating the latest gun violence.
