SALISBURY, N.C. — A 10-year-old is in the hospital recovering after being shot Tuesday, police said. A deputy who responded said people in a car tried to run him over before they shot at him.
It happened just before 9 p.m. Tuesday outside a home on North Jackson Street, just north of Main Street in Salisbury. Salisbury Police Department officers said the girl was taken to the hospital in stable condition.
A Rowan County sheriff’s deputy in the area started running toward the gunshots when he heard them. That is when investigators say the suspects started driving towards the deputy and firing at him.
The deputy shot back and the car eventually crashed. At that point, four people got out and continued to shoot at that deputy before running away.
No one was hit in the exchange, but Chief Deputy Jason Owens said in a news conference Wednesday that lieutenant is lucky to be alive.
“He was in extreme grave danger,” Owens said. “You know, he, you got bullets whizzing by you. You got nothing to hide behind. You’re in the middle of the street. So he’s very, very fortunate that those guys were bad shots because they fired a lot of rounds.”
The police department and the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office are working together to investigate the incident.
Channel 9′s Hannah Goetz talked to the 10-year-old’s grandmother Wednesday afternoon. She said Zy’mir was supposed to start fifth grade Wednesday but instead, she is recovering from surgery at the hospital. Her grandmother said Zy’mir was helping her carry in groceries Tuesday night when someone in a car shot Zy’mir in the stomach.
Salisbury police said they do not believe she was the intended target.
“We have an innocent 10-year-old female victim that got injured and was not part of the violent act that took place, and should have started her first day of school today and was unable to because of the senseless violence act of somebody else, and something unrelated,” Chief P.J. Smith said.
Police said they are talking to people of interest but no one has been charged.
As for Zy’mir, her grandmother said they had her up moving around Wednesday, but it will be a long recovery.
It’s unclear what led up to the shooting in the first place. Police did say the incident appears to be isolated and there is no active threat to the community.
Anyone with information is asked to call Sgt. Hill at 704-638-5333, email investigations@salisburync.gov, or submit a video of the incident anonymously here.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
(WATCH BELOW: Man who was inside AutoZone during shooting: ‘Very scared for my life’)
©2023 Cox Media Group
