A 17-year-old girl is speaking out after she was shot by a stray bullet while watching television late Sunday night in the Feltonville neighborhood of North Philadelphia.
An off-duty police officer who was visiting friends in the area spotted several men exchanging words with an unknown person or people near B and Ruscomb streets around 11:45 p.m.
He then saw several men enter a home on B Street and come back outside. Three of the men had guns and started firing into the street, police said. Six rounds were fired in all, according to investigators. One bullet struck a teen girl who was watching television inside her boyfriend's home on B Street.
"I was watching TV and I was getting up to go to the bathroom when I heard gunshots and it hit me automatically," the teen, who did not want to be identified, told NBC10's Denise Nakano in an exclusive interview Monday.
A bullet went throught a window of the home and struck the teen, going in and out of the center of her chest and just missing vital organs.
"It's crazy," the teen said. "I'm lucky it didn't do any damage."
Another bullet went into a woman's home and flew over her 4-year-old daughter's head as she was sleeping. Fortunately the girl wasn't hurt.
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
The off-duty officer saw the suspects fleeing into another home along the side alley of B Street after the shooting. He called first responders. SWAT officers arrived on the scene and secured a residence on the 4900 block of B Street.
The SWAT team rescued a woman and child from inside the building, police said.
The 17-year-old girl was transported to a local hospital in stable condition and released Monday morning, according to police. The girl's father told NBC10 he's grateful his only daughter is still alive.
"I think God protected her from the shot because it went in the chest and out and didn't hit any organs," he said.
The suspects were described as five Hispanic men. One man was heavy set, between the ages of 25 and 30 years old, 5-foot-7 wearing a white tank top and shorts. He was armed with a gun.
Another suspect was described as an African-American man, about 6 feet tall, wearing dark clothing and also carrying a gun.
No arrests have been made at this time.
