California Girl, 6, Shot as She Played With Friend Outside Apartment Complex

A six-year-old girl was struck by a stray bullet while playing with a friend outside an apartment complex in Fresno, California, yesterday evening, police say.

The child was rushed to the Community Regional Medical Center (CRMC) after being wounded on Tyler Avenue and Clark Street shortly before 6:30 p.m.

Police said officers responded to the scene after a notification that 19 rounds were fired in the area, KGPE reported.

Fresno Police Department Lt. Bill Dooley confirmed the victim is a Hispanic female child who suffered a "minor wound to her shoulder."

Investigators are hunting for those responsible for firing the bullets outside the residential building. But they say a lack of information from the local community is frustrating the search.

Lt Dooley indicated that the child was not seriously injured and is expected to make a recovery.

"She was in stable condition but was immediately transported to CRMC with her mom," he said, The Fresno Bee reported. "Last I heard...she is doing fine, she is communicating and in good spirits."

Lt Dooley said investigators do not believe the child or her family were the intended targets, and the working theory is that the shots were linked to a disturbance on the street.

He said officers were collecting CCTV and going door-to-door, hoping to find citizens willing to discuss the incident.

"What we have is limited information, to be honest," Lt Dooley said in a media briefing. "We don't have any witnesses that are providing information as to the description of suspects.

"Other than there was some sort of an argument that took place in front of the apartment complex when all of a sudden shots rang out. There were two children playing near the front of the complex when the shots rang out. One of them was our victim, who was hit, the other was not.

"The aunt who lives at this apartment complex gathered all of the children up and rushed them into an upstairs apartment until officers and paramedics arrived. The apartment itself was hit, two vehicles in front of the apartment were hit. We have shell cases and evidence from the street."

Speaking to KGPE, two children who had recently moved into the neighborhood said they heard the commotion while getting a phone charger from a vehicle parked on the street.

"I got scared and I was in shock and so I ducked down since I was leaning into the car and then I looked at him and I just ran inside," Anakarina Castellanos, one of the children, told the station yesterday evening.

The identity of the young victim and her family was not released by the police department, which has been contacted for comment. The investigation continues.