New Haven police say a 13-year-old girl who was shot over the weekend is out of the hospital.
Detectives say she was riding in a stolen car that was chasing another car when the shooting began.
“It never stops being daunting every time,” said Manuel Camacho, vice president of Ice the Beef, an anti-gun violence organization.
New Haven police said the girl is recovering after being shot Sunday morning.
“We are glad that she has been released from the hospital. But she has a long way to go. So we will do everything we can for her and her family with services from her and help them get through this,” New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson said.
Investigators said she was a passenger in a stolen car that was chasing another car near Howard Avenue and Park Street. That’s when drive-by shooting began, striking the girl who was dropped off at nearby Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital.
“We know clearly that the hospital was not attacked. No one from the hospital was attacked. The young woman who was shot, who is 13 years old, we do not believe that she was the target of the shooting,” Jacobson said.
Police said they later found the two abandoned stolen cars not far away in the area of Asylum Street and Sylvan Avenue. Detectives believe that at least some of the other people involved were children.
“Everything is an effort to make them realize that there is much more than you thought,” Camacho said.
Ice the Beef hopes to prevent youth-related crime by offering programming, which has already been featured in New Haven and is now rolling out to Waterbury, Bridgeport and Meriden.
“Little by little we try to compensate and combat those habitual propensities that they have to be in the streets or hang out with the wrong people,” Camacho said.
Police say they are establishing a security plan around Yale New Haven Hospital. The chief says there has been violence in the area, including the shooting of the teenager.
While not related to the hospital, it raises concerns. A hospital spokesperson says they are working with Yale and New Haven police to make areas around and in the city safer.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact police.
Police: 13-Year-Old Shot in Yale New Haven Hospital Pediatric Entrance Parking Lot
Avelo Airlines adds flights from New Haven to San Juan
