A 5-year-old was grazed by a bullet after being caught in the crossfire of a shootout between two drivers Wednesday evening in southwest Atlanta.
The shooting took place just before 6 p.m. in the 1800 block of Campbellton Road. In a news release, police said the child was in the back seat of a car when the drivers of two separate vehicles began shooting at each other.
One of the stray bullets pierced the back seat of the vehicle in which the child was riding and glanced off the 5-year-old’s back, according to the release. The child was taken to a hospital and was stable.
It was not clear why the motorists were shooting at each other.
“Due to increased patrols in the area, officers were able to quickly respond to the scene and were able to take two persons of interest into custody,” a police spokesperson said in the release. “Investigators are continuing to work to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident as the investigation continues.”
Deontea Anderson, 28, and Paul Hinds Jr., 24, were arrested at the scene. Anderson is facing charges of aggravated assault, cruelty to children in the first degree and obstruction. Hinds also faces those charges, plus a charge of possessing less than an ounce of marijuana.
The child is not the first to be hit by random gunfire on an Atlanta road. Kennedy Maxie, 7, was fatally shot Dec. 21, 2020, while riding in a car near Phipps Plaza in Buckhead. She and her family were Christmas shopping when a bullet fired from the parking lot of the upscale shopping mall hit Kennedy in the head.
She died six days later.
Investigators say bullets were fired when two groups began arguing in the parking lot outside Saks Fifth Avenue, and the 7-year-old was not the intended target. Police identified Daquan Reed as the suspect who fired the fatal bullet and arrested him in January 2021 following a weeklong manhunt, the AJC reported.
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