NIAGARA FALLS – A 2-year-old girl caught in the crossfire of a drive-by shooting is recovering today in Women and Children’s Hospital as police continue to look for a shooter.
“I talked to [the child’s] grandmother and the child recovered from surgery last night and she is recuperating well,” Rev. Duane Thomas of Praise Temple in Niagara Falls said today.
The girl, identified as Jraeona Moore, is the daughter of Sharonda Platt.
Thomas, who is the family’s pastor, said Jraeona is expected to make a full recovery, but may have scars and may need further facial reconstruction surgery.
Thomas said Platt had stopped in the Hometown Grocery at 17th Street and Pierce Avenue on Tuesday afternoon to pick some things up when the shooting occurred in the store’s parking lot.
“She had a [male] friend in the car with her and I guess some guys pulled up on the car and started shooting at the car," Thomas said. He said the man was just a friend, not the child’s father.
“They opened fire while [Platt] was in the store and he was telling them, ‘Stop. Stop. There’s a baby in the car,’ and they just kept shooting,” Thomas said.
The man, who appears to have been the likely target of the shooters, has not been identified by police or the family, but was interviewed by police late Tuesday night.
“We believe that someone had complications with the male, but we really don’t know why,” Thomas said of the shooting. “They weren’t shooting at [Platt].”
Capt. William M. Thomson, chief of detectives, said the man in the car fled after dropping Platt and the girl at the hospital, but was later found for questioning.
“He wasn’t much help,” Thomson said.
Thomson said the man was in the driver’s seat and the baby was in the back seat.
He said Platt heard the shots and ran back to the car to find her baby had been shot in the face. Police found multiple bullet holes in the car, but the caliber of the gun used is not known, Thomson said.
Thomas said there was a lot of chaos Tuesday night at the hospital.
“[Sharonda] is really very upset. There is some speculation on who the shooter is, but basically the family just wants whoever it is to come forward. You were shooting at someone and you shot a baby in the face and now you really [have] got to pay for that," Thomas said.
Thomas said his church plans to organize fundraisers to help the family.
He said his church also is trying to address gun violence.
“We are actually putting a program together to try to combat things like this, a prevention program. Niagara Falls – we can change. All [the current programs] are just numbers for grant money, but we actually need to go out there and hit the streets with things like a gun buyback program," Thomas said.
Police continue to search for the shooter and for a four-door silver American-made car, likely a Pontiac or Taurus, with tinted windows and a rear spoiler.
Anyone with information should contact Niagara Falls police at 286-4711.
email: nfischer@buffnews.com
“I talked to [the child’s] grandmother and the child recovered from surgery last night and she is recuperating well,” Rev. Duane Thomas of Praise Temple in Niagara Falls said today.
The girl, identified as Jraeona Moore, is the daughter of Sharonda Platt.
Thomas, who is the family’s pastor, said Jraeona is expected to make a full recovery, but may have scars and may need further facial reconstruction surgery.
Thomas said Platt had stopped in the Hometown Grocery at 17th Street and Pierce Avenue on Tuesday afternoon to pick some things up when the shooting occurred in the store’s parking lot.
“She had a [male] friend in the car with her and I guess some guys pulled up on the car and started shooting at the car," Thomas said. He said the man was just a friend, not the child’s father.
“They opened fire while [Platt] was in the store and he was telling them, ‘Stop. Stop. There’s a baby in the car,’ and they just kept shooting,” Thomas said.
The man, who appears to have been the likely target of the shooters, has not been identified by police or the family, but was interviewed by police late Tuesday night.
“We believe that someone had complications with the male, but we really don’t know why,” Thomas said of the shooting. “They weren’t shooting at [Platt].”
Capt. William M. Thomson, chief of detectives, said the man in the car fled after dropping Platt and the girl at the hospital, but was later found for questioning.
“He wasn’t much help,” Thomson said.
Thomson said the man was in the driver’s seat and the baby was in the back seat.
He said Platt heard the shots and ran back to the car to find her baby had been shot in the face. Police found multiple bullet holes in the car, but the caliber of the gun used is not known, Thomson said.
Thomas said there was a lot of chaos Tuesday night at the hospital.
“[Sharonda] is really very upset. There is some speculation on who the shooter is, but basically the family just wants whoever it is to come forward. You were shooting at someone and you shot a baby in the face and now you really [have] got to pay for that," Thomas said.
Thomas said his church plans to organize fundraisers to help the family.
He said his church also is trying to address gun violence.
“We are actually putting a program together to try to combat things like this, a prevention program. Niagara Falls – we can change. All [the current programs] are just numbers for grant money, but we actually need to go out there and hit the streets with things like a gun buyback program," Thomas said.
Police continue to search for the shooter and for a four-door silver American-made car, likely a Pontiac or Taurus, with tinted windows and a rear spoiler.
Anyone with information should contact Niagara Falls police at 286-4711.
email: nfischer@buffnews.com