11-Month-Old Baby Critical After Being Shot In Face By Stray Bullet

An 11-month-old baby in The Bronx has been hospitalized in a critical condition after she was shot in the face by a stray bullet.

The child was sitting in the backseat of her mother's car Wednesday night when a gunman started shooting at someone nearby, the police said, according to the New York Daily News.

The bullet grazed the child's left cheek, following which she was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital, then diverted to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Columbia. Doctors at the hospital said the child was in a critical, but stable condition. Her wound was described as life-threatening.

The police said the incident took place on Valentine Ave. near E. 198th St. in Bedford Park. When the cops arrived at the scene, they found the girl's terrified mother holding the baby, NYPD Deputy Chief Timothy McCormack, the commanding officer of Detective Borough Bronx, reportedly said. The child's father was in a nearby grocery store when the incident took place. The 32-year-old mother was not injured.

Other details about the child or her parents were not revealed by the police.

“This is completely unacceptable in our city that an 11-month-old child is shot,” McCormack said at a press conference, according to The New York Post.

As of Wednesday, the shooter, described as a Hispanic man wearing all-black clothing, remained at large. Investigators recovered at least one shell casing on the block.

Between Jan. 1 and Jan. 16, The Bronx has seen 18 shootings, with 18 victims, compared to the 15 shootings involving 18 victims in the same timeframe last year, according to the New York Daily News.

The police are asking anyone with information about the shooter to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS.

Earlier this year, a 26-year-old woman was arrested in connection to the shooting death of a person, who was killed when she was struck by a stray bullet inside an Alabama church. The suspect, identified as Kaillyn Harris, was charged with murder and shooting. Grace Carter, 65, was hit by a bullet fired into the Everlasting Life Holiness Church in Prichard, while attending bible study. “I’m sorry and I didn’t intend to do this,” Harris was quoted as saying at the time. “Anybody who knows me, know I got a good heart. And I [didn’t] intend to do this. Can y’all please forgive me?”