A 9-year-old Alabama boy is currently in stable condition after being wounded in his legs this week during a highway shootout that left his teenage cousin dead. Authorities report that this marks the second time the child has been shot in the past year, leaving the community questioning how such incidents can occur.
The grammar school student was seated in the SUV’s middle row next to his 15-year-old cousin and an 18-year-old brother when the bullets began to fly on Monday, Jan. 15, around 3 p.m. on Alabama Interstate 65 at the Bay Bridge Road exit in Prichard.
The gun violence coincided with Martin Luther King Jr.’s holiday, a day set aside for the remembrance of peace and service.
The young boy was flanked on his left by his brother and their 15-year-old girl cousin on his right when shooters targeted the 18-year-old. In the front seats were the boys’ mother — who was driving — and their aunt, who is the mother of the girl who was killed. A 4-year-old was sitting in the third row of the SUV. Neither of the adults or the pre-schooler was injured in the shooting.
Authorities say the targeted 18-year-old pulled out his gun and started shooting back at the other vehicle during the gunplay. The family drove the wounded children to a local hospital when the shooting ended.
Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch’s office has assumed the lead in the investigation, calling the incident a “rolling shootout.”
The older brother was taken in for questioning but proved uncooperative with law enforcement, refusing to divulge details surrounding the shooting despite hours of questioning.
Detectives have since charged him with reckless endangerment and tampering with physical evidence. He has been arrested and is currently in custody.
Burch told reporters this week the mother of the boys also has been little help.
“The driver who is the mother of the intended target and the mother of the 9-year-old who was shot — by the way the…
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