12-year-old girl injured when bullet enters her home on north side

A 12-year-old girl was injured after a bullet entered her home Thursday afternoon, Milwaukee police said.

Police responded to the shooting at about 12:30 p.m. in the 2500 block of West Capitol Drive. The girl's injuries are not life-threatening and she was not the intended target, police said.

Milwaukee police are looking for suspects. They asked anyone with information to contact them at (414) 935-7360 or Milwaukee Crime Stoppers at (414) 224-TIPS or P3 Tips App.

The girl is the latest in a slew of minors who have suffered gunshot wounds in recent weeks and the second child shot in 24 hours in Milwaukee. 

A 17-year-old boy was shot during a basketball game Wednesday evening in Dineen Park on the north side, the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office said. He was in critical condition.

And on Tuesday night, a 19-year-old suffered a gunshot wound that was not life-threatening on the city’s north side, police said.

Since April 1, at least 15 children under age 18 have been injured by guns in Milwaukee.

Some young children were injured when guns accidentally discharged inside their homes; others were teenagers involved in shootings still under investigation.

Among the recent cases: a 6-year-old boy who suffered a graze wound when he picked up a gun and it fired; a 7-year-old boy who was hit by a bullet fired during an argument; a 14-year-old girl struck in a shooting that injured one adult and killed another; two 16-year-old boys who were shot in the same incident; and a 9-year-old boy whose gunshot injury led to the arrests of two people.

Several other teens ages 18 and 19 have been shot since April 1 as well.

In a prominent case last month, four teens, ages 14 to 19, died in a shooting in a home on North 12th Street, along with a 41-year-old woman.

Reggie Moore, director of the Office of Violence Prevention, part of the city health department, called the two latest shootings “senseless acts of gun violence” and urged peace and gun safety heading into the Memorial Day weekend. 

The holiday often marks the beginning of warmer weather, which leads to an uptick in violent crime.

“We are calling on everyone in our community to do everything possible to ensure that our homes, parks, and neighborhoods are safe from gun violence,” Moore said in a statement.

He asked gun owners to keep firearms safely secured and out of reach of children and away from anyone barred from having a gun, and he said the Office of Violence Prevention had an “unwavering commitment” to advocating for the end of gun violence in the city.

“No child should be in fear for their lives anywhere at any time in our community,” Moore said. “Peace is all of our responsibility and we must do everything to ensure that no other family has to experience the injury or loss of a child due to gun violence.”

Contact Sophie Carson at (414) 223-5512 or scarson@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @SCarson_News.