According to Houston police, a 9-year old girl is currently in critical condition after being hit by a single bullet from a robbery victim. This makes her the second girl 9 years old to be shot in Houston in less than a week.
Tony D. Earls (41-year-old victim of the robbery) was charged with aggravated attack with a deadly instrument, according to the Houston Police Department Tuesday.
Matt Slinkard , HPD Executive chief stated Tuesday the robbery took place at a Chase drive through ATM in southeast Houston around 9:45 pm on Monday.
HPD stated that an unknown suspect approached the victim on foot, while he was at the ATM. He then robbed him at gunpoint.
"The shooting suspect shot first at the robbery victim, who was running on foot, then at the pickup truck he believed the robbery victim had gotten into," HPD stated in a news release.
The family of five was in the pickup truck, which was not involved with the robbery. Police said that a nine-year-old girl was hit in the head while sitting in the backseat. The automobile was also disabled.
Witness Joe Maldonado called 911 and described the scene to NBC News affiliate KPRC.
"He pulled over on the sidewalk there and he sat with his little girl. I finally got out my car to see what was happening. Maldonado said that he asked me to dial 911, the police and an ambulance.
Maldonado stated that the young victim of the shooting "just started crying and coughing, and she was speaking in a low, low voice and her father was trying to calm her down."
According to the police report, the girl was unresponsive when officers arrived. Police say that the unknown suspect in robbery remains at large.
Ashanti Grant, a Houston girl aged nine, was also shot in the head while she was sitting in the backseat of her parents' car last week.
Police say that Grant's family was on their way to the grocery shop when they encountered road rage.
Monday's Mayor Sylvester Turner asked people to submit tips to help him arrest the suspects in Grant's shooting. The reward was increased to $30,000 by Turner .
Turner wrote an email to NBC News saying, "One shooting is too many."
Mayor said that there are too many guns on the streets and announced earlier this year a $1 million gun-buyback program.
"The Firearm Carry Act 2021allows anyone 21 or older to carry a handgun, without the need for a license. Turner stated that this is adding to the problem.
"The City of Houston is doing its part in keeping Houstonians safe. We need the support of state leaders."
