A 12-year-old girl was shot in the arm during a scuffle outside a Queens apartment building Wednesday night, authorities said.
Police and officials said about 10 people were involved in a scuffle on the sidewalk near South Jamaica House when at least one masked suspect approached the group and opened fire around 7:45 p.m.
The preteen was shot and rushed to Cohen Children’s Medical Center in stable condition, police said.
The victim’s neighbor said the girl had returned to the apartment with her sister and aunt to seek help.
“I saw her running upstairs. She was upset and crying,” the neighbor said. “They wrapped her arms around her and put her in the ambulance.”
Police said the victim was involved in a fight, but it’s unclear if she was the intended target.
Police said the masked suspect was with another person, but it was not immediately clear whether either person fired a gun.
Authorities said a 26-year-old woman was also stabbed in the chest and an 18-year-old woman suffered head injuries during the fight. Police said both men were hospitalized in stable condition.
So far, no arrests have been made.
Neighbors said about five shots were fired during the scuffle.
“I heard thump, thump, thump, then thump, thump,” the neighbor said. “Then I heard screaming and saw them running.
“They came running upstairs. I live right across the hall from them and I was hoping no one would come after them.”
Neighbors believe the girl was involved in a shooting.
“They shot whoever was here,” the neighbor said. “It just so happened that she got caught up in it and got shot.”
The shooting occurred hours after a 15-year-old boy was stabbed and injured on Queens Street near the school, part of an alarming trend of teens becoming victims of crime in the Big Apple in recent weeks. .
