Photo Credit: Huffington Post

14-year-old Unique Russell was killed while attending a fireworks show on the 4th of July, reports KTLA.com^[1].

According to the L.A. County Sheriff’s office, a 12-year-old girl and a 21-year-old man were also shot. Two men reportedly shot into the crowd of revelers from a van across the street. They remain at large.

“[Unique] was laying [in the street], she didn’t look like she was breathing and wasn’t moving. We saw someone [shot] in the yard and someone else laying next to her,” said neighbor Dustin Shaffer.

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According to witnesses, it was extremely difficult to differentiate between gunshots and fireworks. Unique’s cousin, Dywain Bowden, blamed gang violence for the girl’s death:

“This [expletive] has got to stop. Gang bangers don’t go around killing kids. If you’re going to gang bang, gang bang right,” he said.

Unfortunately, Unique was not the only child to lose her life on Independence Day. A three-year-old Sacramento boy was in the car with his father when another vehicle pulled close to the pair and opened fire. He was rushed to the hospital where he died from his injuries, reports KTLA.com.^[2]

In an email to the Huffington Post^[3], LASD Captain Mike Parker spoke out passionately against the violence.

“Bullets strike where guns are pointed, and innocent people get hit just like gang members do,” wrote Parker.. “One life lost due to violence is too many. What we need most is for the public to be so fed up with violence and gangs that they get involved.”

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Anyone with information about the shooting death of the three-year-old boy, please contact the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office at (916) 874-5115, Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP or send a text message tip to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter SACTIP followed by the tip information. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.   

Anyone with information about the shooting death of Unique Russell, please contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department^[4]‘s Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500.

References

1. ^{^}KTLA.com (www.ktla.com)
2. ^{^}KTLA.com. (www.ktla.com)
3. ^{^}Huffington Post (www.huffingtonpost.com)
4. ^{^}Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (www.ktla.com)