On Saturday night, a group of kids tossing snowballs at passing cars in Milwaukee resulted in two of them being shot. According to a CNN report, a driver got out of his white Toyota after his car was hit with a snowball on West Birch Street and started firing shots in the direction of the children. Two of the kids sustained non-life-threatening injuries. One of the victims is a 12-year-old girl and the other a 13-year-old boy. They were taken to a local hospital following the incident and stayed there in recovery, according to a statement given by Sgt. Sheronda Grant to The New York Times on Tuesday.
Sgt. Grant said that the investigation is still active, as the Milwaukee Police Department is “seeking an unknown suspect.” She declined to respond to further questions.
Representative Gwen Moore, a Democrat who represents Wisconsin’s Fourth District, said she was “deeply troubled by the blatant disregard shown for these children’s lives” and that this incident "illustrates why we need stricter gun laws.”
In contrast, Cavalier Johnson, an alderman for the district where the shooting happened, told the NYT that gun violence was “pretty tame” in the area. Johnson went on to condemn the incident. “I just couldn’t fathom the idea of shooting at kids because they threw a snowball at you,” he said. “To apply deadly force to that action is totally and just completely senseless and uncalled for.”
