A 10-year-old girl was shot while riding in a vehicle with her family on Mother’s Day in Northeast, D.C. police say. She is in critical condition.
District police said the shooting happened in the 3700 block of Hayes Street NE at around 9 p.m. while a family was driving home on Sunday.
“It is unacceptable to me that a 10-year-old little girl riding home with her mom, dad and two siblings last night got caught in the middle of a barrage of gunfire on Mother’s Day, and is now in the hospital fighting for her life,” D.C. police Robert Contee said Monday afternoon in response to the shooting.
The police department identified the girl as Arianna Davis, and said a $30,000 reward is being offered in the case. With money coming from the police department as well as the Washington field offices of both the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI.
“We do not believe the 10-year-old was targeted — or the family,” said Assistant police Chief Andre Wright in a midnight press conference Monday.
Family members realized the girl had been struck in the upper body moments after hearing gunshots in the area.
“When they heard the sounds of gunshots and, as they continued to travel a little further down the road obviously, the 10-year-old yelled out. And they were able to look back and see that their daughter was shot,” he said.
Police said she was taken to a firehouse in the 1500 block of C Street SE at around 9:20 p.m. with apparent gunshot wounds as her parents attempted to give her care.
A spokesperson for the department said DC Fire and EMS took the child to the hospital. Wright said family members were in an area hospital with their daughter, who remained in critical condition early Monday.
“This was Mother’s Day, and they were doing what we all were doing today: celebrating the outstanding work and efforts of moms,” Wright said. “And that’s what this entire day should be about. We should be talking about Mother’s Day, not talking about this tragic event of a 10-year-old being shot.”
Police have not released a suspect description but Contee said they do believe those responsible were in a dark colored, possibly black, SUV. He said investigators are still looking at security camera footage in the area, to see if the vehicle or suspects were caught on camera.
Officers are asking anyone with information to call the department.
WTOP’s Mike Murillo contributed to this report.
