Neighbors express concern after toddler is grazed by bullet while playing
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ST. LOUIS (KMOV) — A toddler was grazed by a bullet in a triple shooting in south St. Louis City early Saturday evening.
Officials with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department said three people arrived at a hospital with gunshot wounds. One of them was a 2-year-old boy with a non-threatening graze wound. The boy was playing inside a bounce house in the 3900 block of Virginia with a 23-year-old man and 23-year-old woman when the gunfire erupted. The woman was also grazed in the arm. authorities said.
A 17-year-old boy was also shot in the leg, arm and abdomen while walking on Virginia Avenue. He was conscious and breathing. Edna Kemp lives a few yards from where the shooting happened and said she pulled into her neighborhood to find her entire street blocked off with crime tape.
“There was a car in front of my house that had bullet holes in it and a car parked next to mine with the window shot out, the front window shot out,” Kemp said.
Other neighbors tells News 4 a group was hosting a party in the middle of the street where the bounce house was. One man said he called police to complain twice, earlier in the day. He said officers arrived and then left a short time later. Around 5 p.m., another neighbor said he heard at least 12 gunshots. He said he came outside to find dozens of officers and shattered glass in the middle of the street.
Kemp said the gunfire is frightening, especially as a grandmother. Her 5-year-old granddaughter Hope also lives with her and loves to play outside. Out of precaution, Kemp said they plan to spend most of the spring and summer playing in the backyard.
“I don’t want her to be a victim, if we survive a year of the virus and she is not sick, back to in-person learning, I am not taking a chance because nobody knows,” Kemp said. “In a heated argument, bullets fly and nobody knows who they hit, I’m sure they didn’t mean to hit that child yesterday but it happened.”
News 4 reached out to St. Louis City Police asking for an update on the victims’ conditions but is still waiting to hear back.
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