DES MOINES, Iowa — The Des Moines Police Department (DMPD) responded to a shooting call around 8:30 P.M. Sunday night.
Authorities say this happened in the 800 block of SE McKinley Avenue.
According to police, a drive-by shooting resulted in a two- year old being shot in the leg while inside the home.
The child was taken to Children's hospital by his mother prior to the officer's arrival. Police say that child's injuries are not life-threatening.
"It was a very alarming scene. For us, there were well over a dozen shots fired at this house. That house was certainly targeted. But there's no way that the child was the target," said Sgt. Paul Parizek with DMPD. "So, you know, it's one of those things that every time we see a child injured like this, it hits us in the gut, and it's something that the whole community feels, and I'm sure they're feeling the same amount of frustration that we are with the some of the incidents that we've seen here recently."
The neighborhood is not known to be a place where these events happen frequently.
"It's like every other neighborhood, you know, they're good folks live there.," said Parizek. "Unfortunately, in this case, there's something going on that brought this type of violence to that house."
Desiree Jones is a neighbor of the targeted house. Jones was home the night of the shooting.
"I was making a bottle and I just heard a big bang. I thought somebody was coming to my door," said Jones. "I'm like, 'Who would be at my house at this hour?' But then they got louder. And I'm like, OK, there's nobody else, this a shooting."
Jones and her children were safe from harm, but she says this is something that has left her feeling uneasy.
"Our kids could have been playing outside like it was on the weekend. It's on a Sunday. So it really scared me it caught me off guard."
Jones says this is not normal for this neighborhood.
"It's a pretty safe neighborhood like the kids are always playing outside or in the front or in the back," she said. "You know, it's a real kid-friendly neighborhood. So it's not something common to where there's always shootings over here. So it's not really that type of neighborhood. You know, it's more quiet."
This is the second time this year a child has been caught in the crossfire during these drive-by shootings.
Back in March, a two-year-old inside of his home was shot in the head by a drive-by shooter, leaving him in critical condition.
As for what happened this Sunday in the neighborhood of 800 block SE McKinley Avenue, officials say the investigation is ongoing.
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