A 17-year-old girl was shot through her right upper arm by a suspected street-gang member during a free-for-all on Agnes Street late Monday night.
Now police are trying to hunt down the boy who took the pot-shot at her for no apparent reason, police said Tuesday.
"I just heard a big noise," the girl said Tuesday on the front step of her West End home, showing her bandaged arm. "It started stinging right away.
"I was scared. I came running home right away."
Once inside, her parents took a close look at the wound. At first they thought she'd been shot by a pellet gun, but then they saw two holes in her arm -- the bullet had passed straight through.
The girl said an ambulance was called. Soon, paramedics took her to hospital and police were searching the neighbourhood for the gunman.
Sgt. Kelly Dennison said police believe the shot was fired by one of five youths gathered in the back lane between Agnes and McGee streets.
Dennison said the girl and her 11-year-old brother were walking together in the lane at about 11:30 p.m. when they spotted a group of teenagers in front of them near Ellice Street.
The youths, standing about 140 metres away, fired at the girl and her brother. Investigators later found a single .22-calibre shell casing in the lane.
He said police believe the girl was randomly targeted.
"I don't know how more disturbing you can get than that," he said.
The youths were dressed in black and white clothing, he added.
Police ask anyone with information to call the Division 11 crime unit at 986-6668 or Crime Stoppers at 786-TIPS (8477).
The girl and her brother said they think the youths who shot at them belong to an inner-city street gang.
The same youths were vandalizing a neighbour's house minutes earlier when they were chased away and down the lane by other people.
The girl and her brother said when they heard the commotion they decided to follow to see what was going on.
"I was going to help beat up those people," the brother said.
Just before she was shot, the girl said she heard the youths cursing a rival street gang.
"I didn't think I'd actually get shot," she said.
bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca
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