Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch may have just read the minds of the majority of citizens in his home state of Alabama who’ve had it with teen gang violence.
A 2-year-old boy was shot in the face while he was in bed at St. Stephens Woods Apartments in Prichard around 1 a.m. Wednesday, WKRG-TV reported.
‘And a message to the gang members is, “I dare you to pull a gun on one of my guys. Could be the last thing you do.”‘
Sheriff Burch told the station he believes it was a gang-related drive-by shooting.
“They’re just gutless punks who fired from outside the residence into a bedroom window,” Burch said, according to WKRG. “So you know, there was no forced entry or attempt to enter the apartment.”
Burch also believes the victim’s teenage brother, “who’s involved in gang activity,” may have been the intended target, the station reported.
Photo by Estevan Oriol/PYMCA/Avalon/Getty Images
What’s more, Burch told WKRG that a shooting took place a few hours later — and it was just “a stone’s throw away.”
“We don’t know if it’s related or not. But you know, I don’t believe in coincidences. So we believe that this shooting was gang-related and was in retaliation for a shooting on Vestavia Street on June 1 with some other gang members, and there’s been some back and forth,” the sheriff told the station. “After the shooting at 1 a.m. this morning, there was a shooting on Vestavia Street around 4 a.m.”
The sheriff threw down at the violent gangbangers, telling WKRG that “this is going to be a priority for our special operations division. And a message to the gang members is, ‘I dare you to pull a gun on one of my guys. Could be the last thing you do.'”
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Burch also expressed a “wish” for them — and one that would “solve” the heartache gangs bring to the county.
“It’s teenagers, it’s gangs,” the sheriff told WKRG. “And frankly, I wish we could put them all in an arena and let ’em kill the hell out of each other ’cause that would solve the problem.”
The 2-year-old boy has had surgery, Burch added to the station, which reported that his condition is unknown, and there have been no arrests thus far.
The sheriff’s office said those with information about the shootings should call 251-574-8633.
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