Three Children Injured as Innocent Bystanders

Seven-year-old twins and a ten-year-old were shot and injured today as innocent bystanders to other people’s gun violence.

In Atlanta, Georgia, ten-year-old Chase Martice was struck in the thigh by a stray bullet while playing basketball with other children outside his home. No arrests have been made. “We don’t know what direction it came from,” a neighbor said. “This is a peaceful neighborhood. For a child to get hurt, an innocent child at that is very hard to deal with.”

And in Roanoke, Virginia, seven-year-old twins were caught in the crossfire of a public dispute about a stolen bicycle. Neither child suffered life threatening injuries. The incident happened thirty minutes after Roanoke City’s Gun Violence Prevention Commission ended a workshop designed to bring down the number of shootings. “I was really disheartened to read that [the shooting happened],” a local authority said. “This was discouraging to me on a couple of fronts. We know there are fights, but in the middle of an argument, with children around, someone opened fire and that could have been really devastating for everybody.”

Sources:

Bryan Mims, “10-year-old Boy Shot While Playing Basketball Outside His Home,” wsbtv.com (April 11, 2023).

Pat Thomas, Isabella Ledonne, “Two Victims in Triple Roanoke Shooting are 7-year-old Twins,” wdbj7.com (April 11, 2023).