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Police: 11-Year-Old Boy Struck By Stray Bullet in North Philadelphia

By Elizabeth Hur

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- An 11-year-old boy is hospitalized after being struck by a stray bullet.

Philadelphia police say the child was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"When the bullets started flying, he got hit," explained Curtis Allen, the victim's uncle, "You got a kid shot for no reason at all, just coming out the door, it don't make no sense."

The incident was reported around 6 p.m. in the 2500 block of N. 9th Street.

Family identified the victim as Sameed Jenkins.

Family and friends now want to know who could be so careless to open fire in broad daylight. Fortunately, we're told the bullet just grazed the 11-year-old in his torso and he is expected to make a full recovery.

Allen added, "You're going to shoot the wrong person and then what? Everybody else is grieving for this person when the person down the street is the one you want."

Chief Inspector Scott Small with the Philadelphia Police Department explained, "We believe that the shooter was driving south in the 2500 block of 9th Street and fired a shot from the vehicle, a silver colored vehicle."

Police believe a silver sedan captured in area surveillance cameras may be the suspect's car.

Investigators are now looking into the possibility that the same suspect was involved in another shooting nearby.

"Now around the same time, we have a 33 year old male victim who was shot two times in the 2700 block of Germantown Avenue which is about a half mile from this location," Small said.

The 33-year-old, police say, was in his car when he was shot and rushed to the hospital in critical condition.

Police say both shootings remain under investigation.

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