Shooting injures four youths
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, August 10, 2004
Four juveniles were injured in three different shootings on Friday night and early Sunday morning.
Most of the injuries are minor, according to Police Chief Robert Green, although one, a 14-year-old girl, was shot in the back of the head and is still being treated at a Birmingham hospital.
“(We) don’t know the extent of her injuries,” Chief Green said.
An SPD policy forbids releasing the names of minors involved in a criminal investigation. The STJ was unable to determine the girl’s status as of presstime.
The weekend’s shooting began on Friday, when a 16-year-old Selma male was struck in the right elbow at a shooting in the parking lot of Johnny’s Package Store.
According to reports, he was seated in the back of a 1994 Cadillac when a bullet went through the back windshield and struck him.
The victim was transported to Vaughan Regional Medical in a private vehicle and later released.
Green said the scene at Johnny’s Package Store was chaotic when detectives arrived.
“We’re having a very difficult time making out what happened,” Green said.
Green said the case is still under investigation.
M.J. Pattel, of Johnny’s Package Store, confirmed Green’s statements.
“We heard some shots and some people started coming (running) into the store,” Pattel said. “Nobody knew who they were.”
The other two shooting occurred early Sunday morning beginning at 3 a.m.
Another 16-year-old male reported to police that when he left his vehicle at the Mr. Waffle on Highway 80 that he heard shots being fired.
The victim said he fell to the ground and found that he’d been struck in the back of his head by the gunfire.
A private vehicle transported him to Vaughan Regional Medical Center where he was treated and released.
Green said that police have a suspect in the case.
“In all likelihood, an arrest will be imminent,” he said.
Management at Mr. Waffle refused to be quoted regarding the incident.
An hour later, at GWC Homes, two 15-year-old females where hit by gunfire while on the porch of an apartment. The victims, according to Green, were visiting an acquaintance in the area.
One victim was hit in the face by a bullet; the other was shot in the back of the head.
Both were transported to Vaughan Regional. The juvenile who sustained injury to the back of the head was then transported to a hospital in Birmingham. The other was treated and released.
In all of the cases, Green said the injured parties weren’t the likely targets.
“It seemed like they were in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he said.
Green said couldn’t say if there was a connection in any of the shootings.
“All cases are still under investigation,” he said.
Green also said none of the incidents appeared gang related.
” But we’re still in the infantile stages (of investigation)”
The Selma Detective Division is investigating the two cases involving 16-year-old males. The Youth Aid Division is investigating the case involving the 14-year-olds.
Both departments are working together closely to solve the crimes.