A 9-year-old girl was shot in the back on Sunday in Southeast D.C. when a stray bullet went through the car she was in, authorities said.
Shots were fired in the 1500 block of Shippen Lane SE. A round pierced the red SUV the victim was in and hit her while she sat in the backseat.
The two adults in the car with her at the time did not realize that she had been shot until they were about a mile away from the scene, in the 2700 block of Douglass Place SE, according to D.C. police.
Police found her conscious and breathing and rushed her to a hospital, where she was in stable condition.
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The adults with her were not hurt.
Authorities said the suspect is a man last seen in a dark sedan wearing a black ski mask.
“It’s disheartening, and again, it’s just outrageous. I’m outraged and I continue to say that the community should be outraged as well,” Seventh District Commander Lashay Makal said.
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Oye Owolewa lives in neighborhood and is the District's elected shadow representative in the U.S. House of Representatives. He serves as an advocate for D.C. statehood, and his own home was hit by a stray bullet last year.
"Even if you’re not doing the wrong thing, you too can be in harm’s way of a stray bullet," Owolewa said. “At the end of the day, a 9-year-old was shot. There’s no reason for a 9-year-old to have to suffer through a gunshot wound.”
The motive for the shooting is not yet known. Anyone with information is asked to call police.
