11-Year-Old Boy Struck by Stray Bullet

When she first heard the sound of gunshots, Keyshla Hernandez immediately thought she had been struck.

"I was like, 'Oh my God, I got shot!'" Hernandez said.

Fortunately, the young girl hadn't been shot. Her friend, 11-year-old Sameed Jenkins, wasn't so fortunate however.

The boy was struck by a stray bullet early Monday evening while he was sitting on a bicycle in front of his grandmother's home on the 2500 block of North 9th Street.

"He was walking like normal," Hernandez said. "When he came out, he was hurting. His mom asked him if he was okay. He said no and he wanted to go to the hospital."

Investigators say the bullet grazed the boy in the left side. He was taken to St. Christopher’s Hospital where he is currently in stable condition.

"I got a phone call," said Curtis Allen, Jenkins' uncle. "My heart was racing. I just thank God my nephew is alright." 

Police suspect the gunman who fired the stray bullet was inside a nearby corner store. While they have not yet released a description of the suspect, surveillance video shows the suspect driving a silver sedan.

Around the same time Jenkins was struck, police say a 33-year-old man was also shot about a mile and a half away on Germantown Avenue.

"We don't know if these two shootings are related or if they are two separate, isolated incidents," said Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small.

No arrests have been made and a weapon has not been recovered.

Monday's incident marked the third time in a week and a half that an 11-year-old child was shot in Philadelphia.

On April 5, an 11-year-old girl was shot and killed after her 2-year-old brother was playing with a loaded gun.

On April 6, an 11-year-old boy was shot in the back after a gunman opened fire while inside a car.

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