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3 Kids Eating At Taco Stand Wounded In Drive-By Shooting
Three children were wounded after they were caught in the crossfire of a drive-by shooting in front of a South L.A. taco stand on Wednesday.
The shooting took place around 8:40 p.m. in the 9400 block of South Figueroa St., reports ABC 7. The kids—a 10-year-old boy, and a 13-year-old boy and girl—and several other people were eating tacos by a mobile stand when a dark-colored sedan and SUV passed by, according to the L.A. Times. Then gunshots were fired.
The two 13-year-old children were hit by the gunfire, and the 10-year-old boy was struck by shrapnel. LAPD told KTLA that the gunshot hit the back of the 13-year-old boy, leaving him with a punctured lung. The gunfire struck the 13-year-old girl in her stomach, and wounded her internal organs. The youngest boy had a minor injury to one of his limbs.
Though the two 13-year-olds were in serious condition when they arrived at the hospital, they are expected to survived.
Police believe that the shooting was gang-related, and that the children weren't the intended target. Witnesses saw a man running from the scene after 12 gunshots rang out, and authorities believe the drive-by-shooting was meant for him.
Authorities are looking for two vehicles that witnesses saw in the area during the shooting. One is a dark sedan that might be a Honda or Toyota, and the other is a small SUV, like a Jeep.
Back in July, there was a shooting that took place by another taco stand in South L.A., killing one of its employees. South L.A. has faced a string of violent shootings over the past few months. In August, Los Angeles had the deadliest month in eight years, with a 7% increase of killings since the beginning of the year. Nearly half of those killings happened in South L.A.
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