In March of 2010, we told you about Ahmad Nah - the Roaring Creek teenager who almost lost his life when the pellet from an airgun punctured his skull.
He survived, but his difficulties demonstrated the danger of these guns which are freely sold as recreational toys. Last night, could have been a repeat of that situation when a four year old was shot on Peter Seco Street in the Lake Independence Area. Luckily, he was only grazed and was treated and released from the KHMH. Today when we visited the child, he only had a scratch and some swelling on the side of his face.
But this shooting was no accident - the child's family says an adult neighbor intentionally targeted him. It happened yesterday evening when the children ran up the street to meet their grandmother who was coming home from work:
Sherilee Barrow, Aunt of victim
"Our dogs and our children usually go and meet my mom right. So my mom is coming with the kids and the dogs and after that my nephew ran at the gate suddenly, he didn't put his hands on the gate yet and then we hear "pow" and then he shouted 'granny..auntie, that man there shoot me' but when we look around the man has already gone inside his house then after that the police came and we call the ambulance. They came to check the little boy. he got a graze on his face corner. The man looks at the police and told them that he
didn't do it, he didn't do anything like that. He meant to do that child that because you know how children are mischievous and like to play around. He don't like the child because out of all the kids he is the hypest one. The children would normally ran pass his gate with the dogs. He doesn't like his dogs rushing. My child is only 4 years old."
"It could have been more dangerous than that if the pellet went to his eyes or in his ears or his temple. Nothing would come out of it same way? What will happen to us? These things are wrong. The law cannot make these kinds of people get away. Those people have mental problem, they do not belong in the neighborhood like that."
"This just brings back memories because my brother was shot up in his head at the back of the complex building. Then they kill a child and shot him up in his neck. The same thing they did to his uncle. So these things just terrified us and we can't take these kinds of things anymore because we feel like the whole world is against us; our neighbors against us."
A report was made to police and the CIB is investigating. Police searched the house looking for the pellet gun. No charges have been brought at this time.
