Police were called to Piedmont Avenue and Decatur Streets in southwest Atlanta after being alerted to a shooting at around 5:30 p.m. on Sunday October 6, Atlanta Police Department told Newsweek. Officers found a mother with her 13-month-old child who had been shot in the hand.
The girl, only identified as Raylah, was in the back seat of a car driven by her mother’s friend. They hit a man’s SUV in the area of Fletcher and Ira streets, ABC affiliated WSB-TV Atlanta reported.
Recounting the crash, Natika, the girl’s mother, told WSB-TV: “The mirror fell out of it, and I’m, like, ‘You just hit someone’s car.’”
A man armed with a gun then emerged from a nearby property. He ordered Natika’s friend to pay him $300 in apparent damages. Her friend refused and instead offered to exchange insurance information.
As tensions escalated, the mother begged the armed man not to shoot.
Natika said the man “was getting irate, and I asked him before everything was over, I was like, ‘Don’t shoot.’ Because I saw him clutching for his gun in his satchel. I said, ‘Don’t shoot, my baby’s in the car.”
Despite being warned Raylah was in the car, the suspect began firing the weapon. It sounded as if the shots were “coming from everywhere,” Natika said. She soon realized Raylah had been hit.
Natika recalled: “My baby’s full of blood, so I don’t know if she’s hit in the chest, but she’s still not crying, so I didn’t know if she was alive.”
The man had shot the toddler in the hand, and appeared to have broken her finger. The two women attempted to rush the 13-month-old to hospital, but the car broke down.
Natika said the tires on her friend’s car had been shot out, and had started to deflate. The vehicle then caught fire.
The women were able to flag down a Georgia State University officer, and police then took Raylah and Natika to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite Hospital, police told Newsweek. The toddler is expected to make a full recovery.
Officer Anthony W. Grant of Atlanta Police Department told Newsweek investigators are working to uncover the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
Police told WSB-TV the suspect is still at large, but they are chasing leads. A description of the shooter has not been released.
“I hope and pray he can at least turn himself in, or the police can do their job, stay on top of it and find him, because he clearly is a ticking time bomb,” Natika said.
Roger Askew, who lives in the area, told 11 Alive: “I am sad with a child getting injured, hurt, anything like that, it’s not right.”
He said he was tired of violence in the neighborhood. “Put the guns down, so many people have guns around here. Just put the guns down. Just go down,” he said.
Atlanta Police spokesperson Anthony Grant said at the time of the shooting: “It’s unfortunate that a child was caught in the crossfire which is unacceptable and, of course, we’re going to do our best to investigate the situation and bring those responsible to justice.”
This article has been updated with information from Atlanta Police Department.
