11-year-old shot in drive-by in Lexington

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – UPDATE: An 11-year-old girl is fighting for her life tonight after being shot while celebrating her birthday.

Lexington police say the 11-year-old victim was at a sleepover at a Lexington home last night to celebrate her 12th birthday which is this Wednesday when she was shot early this morning.

Linda Riley says she woke up around 3:00 Tuesday morning when she heard gun shots.

“I heard boom, boom, boom, boom and I realized it was shots and by the time I got myself together and got to the front door all I seen was a few of my neighbors turning their porch lights on, people wondering what was happening and then within seconds the officers showed up,” said Riley, a neighbor.

Lexington police say when they arrived at the home off Carneal Road they found and 11-year-old girl shot inside.

She was taken to the hospital in critical condition.

“Everybody that was here that was concerned about this was very upset, very worried about everything. I felt so much compassion for the issue,” said Riley.

Neighbors say the victim’s aunt lives in the home and was hosting a birthday sleepover for her niece that night.

“No child nowhere needs their dream of their birthday being disrupted like this in a nightmare because this is what this is for this child. It’s a nightmare and depending on her health from now on it will be, it will be life changing to her,” said Riley.

Police say several children and adults were in the home at the time of the shooting.

Riley says she can’t understand why anyone would shoot at a home full of children.

“That child is paying the price for whatever the issue is. That baby’s paying it, not another adult, not who you wanted to target your anger at. That’s misdirected anger and somehow or another we have to get a handle on ourselves as human beings and actually do an evaluation of what our values are,” said Riley.

Police say they believe this shooting was not random and that the home was actually targeted by the shooter.

As of right now, police say they do not yet have a suspect or vehicle description but the investigation is ongoing.

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A child was rushed to the hospital Tuesday after a drive-by shooting in Lexington.

Lexington police say the child was shot inside a home in the 800 block of Carneal Road at around 3 a.m.

Witnesses report hearing 13 shots.

An 11-year-old female victim was found shot inside the residence, according to police.

Officials say she was taken to the hospital in critical condition.

Police say several children and adults were inside the home when the shooting occurred. The homeowner was hosting a birthday slumber party for the victim, who turns 12 years old on Wednesday, according to investigators.

Police say they do not believe this was random, they are working to determine why the house was targeted.

They are trying to get a good description of the car involved in the drive-by.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact Lexington Police at (859) 258-3600.