JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The mother of an 18-year-old woman injured in a shooting on Monday night while trying to protect her younger cousins is calling the incident “ridiculous.”
The woman was watching over her 8-year-old and 4-year-old cousins at the playground inside Pinewood Park Apartments on Kernan Boulevard when gunfire erupted between two groups near the property manager’s office.
“You shouldn’t be scared to be outside in your own apartment complex. You shouldn’t be scared to take your sister, nieces, and siblings outside for fear of getting shot. That’s ridiculous,” the victim’s mother told News4JAX.
We are choosing not to name the mother and daughter for safety reasons.
She was attempting to pull both children off a sliding board when a stray bullet struck her arm and fragmented, with a piece hitting her upper chest.
The bandages are a reminder of the gun violence that sent her to the hospital.
“She said I’ve been shot. I said what? You’ve been what? She started screaming, and the phone went dead. I ran downstairs to see if I could find her, but by the time I got downstairs, she was coming through the door with blood running down her arm,” the mother said. “The kids are terrified.”
The 8-year-old said it was a scary situation.
“I started to hear gunshots. I heard three and I was freaking out,” the 8-year-old said.
When the 18-year-old was shot, the bullet hit her in the arm and then fragmented. A small, fragmented piece of the bullet struck her in the upper chest.
The victim and her cousins have had a hard time sleeping since the incident. The family also said they are afraid to leave their apartment now.
Police investigators may have surveillance video of the incident and possible leads on suspects, though they have not released details publicly.
No arrests have been made.