A “rolling gun battle” between people in two vehicles might have left a 5-year-old girl shot and in the hospital Friday night, Missouri police say.
Officers investigated reports of shots fired about 7:50 p.m., the Independence Police Department said in a statement.
Around the same time, the Kansas City Police Department said a child had been shot and dropped off at a nearby Walmart.
Police are investigating a “rolling gun battle” in a restaurant parking lot, said Independence Police spokesman John Syme.
“The found victim is believed to have been in one of the involved vehicles when she was shot. She was transported to an area hospital and is being treated at this time,” the statement says.
Syme said she was in stable condition.
At least 30 shell casings were found nearby, he said. Police were searching for those involved, he said.
Affiliate KSHB reported that surveillance video from the restaurant shows two vehicles, a car, and an SUV, firing on a highway and pulling into the parking lot. At least three vehicles in the lot were struck. No one in the restaurant was injured, the station reported.
So far this year, 1,155 children younger than 18 have been killed and 3,214 have been injured by the use of firearms, according to the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive. Some 3,760 children younger than 18 were killed or injured last year.