LYNCHBURG, Va. – A 5-year-old girl is at home recovering from a gunshot wound after being hit by a stray bullet. Lynchburg police say multiple shots were fired in her neighborhood on Tuesday.
“We actually drove up to the stop sign up here and then to the left all you hear is just pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, probably about 10, 15 gunshots,” Dodger Dunn, awitness, said.
That's what witnesses heard before Lynchburg police were called to the area of Taylor and Knight streets for a report of multiple shots fired Tuesday evening.
"We stopped right there and looked to the left and I swear we saw like a bigger dude run across the street and he was just sprinting. He was a bigger dude, kinda heavy-set, but it was pretty crazy,” Dunn said.
Neighbors who didn't want to go on camera tell WSLS 10 they heard the shots and quickly took cover.
We asked Dunn what was his reaction to the shooting. He said, "I was like holy cow! What do you do? I mean."
Lynchburg police say a short time later, officers were called to Lynchburg General Hospital because a 5-year-old girl who had been hit by one of the stray rounds.
“It’s just sad. It shouldn't be happening. At any time, it could've been one of my kids,” Ryland Calloway, who lives near the shooting site, said.
The little girl was treated for non-life-threatening injuries and was released from the hospital.
“That's tragic. I mean that's crazy that somebody goes out and starts shooting and then a young kid gets hit, you know. I pray for the family of course,” Dunn said.
WSLS 10 reached out to the 5-year-old's family, who declined to speak to us on camera. Police could not say whether the little girl was outside or in the house at the time of the shooting. But for the neighbors who live nearby and have young kids, "It need to stop. The crime need to stop,” Calloway said.