Girl, 6, fatally shot at south KC convenience store
A 6-year-old girl was fatally shot Friday night at a south Kansas City convenience store.
The girl was rushed to a hospital where she was pronounced dead, according to police Capt. Tye Grant. Police were looking for the gunman.
The shooting occurred shortly after 7 p.m. at a 7-Eleven store at 10615 Blue Ridge Blvd.
Grant said the girl was walking out of the store with a family friend when someone in a passing car fired multiple shots. The girl was struck by at least one bullet.
The car was driving on 107th Street, on the south side of the convenience store.
“I’m sure they were not intending to hit the young lady,” Grant said. “But this is what happens when you’re irresponsible like this.”
Investigators will review surveillance video from the store. “We have some leads that we are working on right now,” Grant said.
A 7-year-old girl was in the store with a family friend when the shooting occurred.
“We heard a big boom,” the girl said. “There was a lot of drama going on. Everybody was freaking out.”
Officers who were detaining possible witnesses at the store released the girl to her mother about 9 p.m.
Tia Strickland said her father and daughter drove into the store parking lot a few moments after the girl was shot.
“They did see the little girl on the pavement. Very disturbing,” Strickland said. “... It could have been my daughter.”
In a Twitter message, Police Chief Darryl Forté urged the shooter or shooters to surrender to police:
“TO SUSPECT(S): Please turn yourself in. I know you have a conscience. I don’t believe the (girl) was the intended victim.”
The store has been the site of other shootings in recent years.
On the afternoon of June 5, 2014, a shootout occurred in the store parking lot. Two men got into an altercation, and both pulled out guns and began shooting. Bullets struck the front window of the store and a nearby auto repair shop. No one was injured.
On April 17, 2013, a gunman tried to shoot a rival in a car parked outside the store. He hit the man’s pit bull and broke two store windows.
To reach Brian Burnes, call 816-234-4120 or send email to bburnes@kcstar.com.
This story was originally published October 18, 2014 at 1:51 AM with the headline "Girl, 6, fatally shot at south KC convenience store."