NEW YORK, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- A 14-year-old girl in Dallas, in the southern U.S. state of Texas, has been charged with murder following the fatal shooting of an 11-year-old boy who was hit by a stray bullet on Sunday, police said.
Police were called to a report of a shooting at an apartment complex in south Dallas on Sunday afternoon. As part of the investigation, police determined a fight was going on between two girls in the parking lot of the complex, according to a CNN report earlier this week.
"One juvenile suspect retrieved a handgun and shot in the direction of the female she was fighting; however, the shot struck a male juvenile bystander," Dallas police was quoted as saying.
The suspect initially ran from the location but was later taken into custody and charged, the report said.
The victim, an 11-year-old boy, was a fifth grader with the DeSoto Independent School District, according to a statement from the district.
"Losing a student is one of the most difficult experiences one can have as an educator. It is akin to losing a child as these are our children," said DeSoto ISD Superintendent of Schools Usamah Rodgers.
A record number of more than 6,000 children and teens were injured or killed in shootings in the United States in 2022, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a website that tracks gun incident trends in the country.
