9-year-old girl shot Friday night, Northeast DC neighborhood wants answers

WASHINGTON - A Northeast DC neighborhood wants answers after a nine-year-old girl was shot Friday night in what police believe to be a drive-by shooting.

Investigators say it happened near the intersection of 16th and E Streets. Neighbors said more than half a dozen shots were fired from a moving vehicle, with at least one bullet striking the little girl, who was playing outside.

Witnesses saying the bullet grazed her head, but officials say she is expected to be okay.

Police don't believe she was the intended target.

"I jumped up off the couch because I thought it was coming in my window, but then I turned around and I heard this child screaming, 'oh mommy I was shot, I was shot,'" recalled Carmen McRae, who lives near the shooting.

The area has seen an uptick in gun violence recently, including a quadruple shooting on nearby Benning Road earlier this month.

"I've been in that same apartment for 22 years, and I never seen nothing like this," McRae said Saturday. Asked if she's worried there could be more violence in the coming weeks, she replied, "if they don't stop this whatever's going on, yes. It got to be stopped."

Police said Saturday that the shooting is still under investigation.