A boy was fatally shot, and a girl and a woman were wounded Monday afternoon in a shooting in Wilmington, authorities reported.
The shooting happened around 4:46 p.m. in the 1400 block of East Denni Street when at least two suspects approached a parked Dodge Durango and opened fire on a 12-year-old boy and a 20-year-old woman who were sitting inside, the Los Angeles Police Department said.
The woman drove away and eventually stopped in the 800 block of Eubank Avenue and called 911, police said.
The boy, who authorities originally said was 11, was taken to the hospital in critical condition, but he died a short time later. The woman was wounded and hospitalized in stable but critical condition.
A 9-year-old girl who was playing on the playground at Wilmington Park Elementary School was also injured in the shooting. Authorities originally reported there were two different shootings, one on Denni Street and another on Eubank Avenue, but later told KTLA there was only one shooting and detectives believe the girl was struck by a stray bullet while she played.
“She was in the schoolyard just playing. Innocently, unknowingly, she was just a victim, just a random victim,” LAPD Captain Adrian Gonzales said.
The girl was taken to a hospital in stable but critical condition, the Los Angeles Fire Department reported.
L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn, whose district includes Wilmington, said she was “horrified” by the burst of deadly gun violence on Monday evening.
“This is such a tragedy. Gun violence has destroyed too many lives in this country and tonight it has terrorized another community,” she said in a statement. “I am praying for the family of this little boy and for the recovery of the little girl and young woman.”
L.A. City Councilman Joe Buscaino also released a statement on Monday night about the tragic shooting.
“Our parks and playgrounds should be safe havens for families and today they became a parents worst nightmare. No one should be a victim of violence, especially children. Los Angeles must become a city better equipped to protect our most vulnerable, and a city better equipped to hold to account those who would commit such heinous acts,” Buscaino said.
No other information was immediately released, including a description of the shooter or shooters.
