Baby Girl Shot, Killed in California as Gunfire Erupts outside Home
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – One or more gunmen opened fire on a house in Compton, California, on Tuesday night, hitting a baby girl inside, authorities said.
Detectives were trying to determine the motive for the violence but are looking into whether it was somehow related to a gang dispute, said Cmdr. Rod Kusch, who heads the L.A. County sheriff's Major Crimes Bureau.
Based on preliminary information, Kusch said the assailant or assailants approached the home on foot about 7 p.m. on Tuesday and opened fire on several people nearby. At least one of the rounds struck the girl.
"Clearly the baby is an unintended victim," Kusch said.
Deputies responded to the scene near the intersection of Holly Avenue and San Marcus Street and found the wounded baby. Deputies took her to St. Francis Medical Center in a patrol car, sheriff's Sgt. Ulysses Cruz said.
She was pronounced dead at the hospital, The Los Angeles Times reported.
It's unclear whether the baby was related to the people the gunmen were targeting.
The girl's death quickly reverberated across the neighborhood.
The site of the shooting, about one block from Roosevelt Elementary School, is one of the more violent neighborhoods in L.A. County, according to crime data compiled by The Times.
During the last six months, Compton has had 475 violent crimes, including eight homicides, according to The Times' Homicide database.
