CINCINNATI -- A 10-year-old boy was shot twice in a drive-by shooting while he was playing outside in Avondale Saturday evening, according to Sgt. Eric Franz.
Someone fired at least 10 shots at about 6 p.m. from a silver Nissan Altima or a silver Mercury while the boy was playing in the front yard of a family member's house at 517 Forest Avenue, Franz said.
Witnesses said whoever fired shots were randomly shooting from the car, Franz said.
“One of the callers said that the car was driving randomly down the street, and it seemed like the shots were being fired randomly out of the car,” Franz said.
The child is in “critical but stable condition” at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
Brandon Derriso, a deacon at Rockdale Baptist Church, said he was in the middle of a service when he heard six gunshots.
"I thought it was firecrackers then I came outside came to the corner here, and I saw a little boy laying on the ground,” Derriso said.
Derriso said the boy’s sister was yelling, “He’s been shot, he’s been shot.”
"A bullet grazed his neck from the shots that were fired out. He was bleeding out,” Derriso said. “They took him up by the house, and it was trying to get him put pressure so he would stop bleeding."
Many in the neighborhood are appalled by Saturday’s shooting, Derriso said.
"It's just amazing to me how people can just shoot at a little kid in broad daylight, and it doesn't matter who they hit and I just don't understand it,” Derriso said.
Steven Sherman, outreach coordinator for Cincinnati Human Relations Commission, came to the scene shortly after the shooting.
"We need the churches to come back out. We need fathers to come back out. We need families to come back, and we need to step up again as a community. We need to step up and we can't be scared,” Sherman said.
Suspect descriptions are unknown at this time.
The incident is under investigation. Anyone with information should call Crimestoppers at 513-352-3040.
