9-year-old shot, injured in North County

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) - Police said a 9-year-old boy was shot and injured in North County Saturday afternoon.

According to St. Louis County Police, officers responded to the 1300 block of Aspen Woods Drive for a shooting just before 3 p.m. When they arrived, they found a child outside suffering from a gunshot wound. The child was taken to an area hospital for a critical injury. Police said that the boy is now in stable condition.

Police told News 4 that the child was not the target of the shooting.

This shooting happened during a weekend when hundreds had gathered to organize against gun violence. In Webster Groves, around 300 people marched and vowed to take action to combat gun violence.

“That’s precisely why we’re here today,” said St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell, who attended the march in Webster Groves. “We need to implement common-sense gun laws. In my lane, prosecutors need the tools to prosecute these kinds of cases, and when we’re allowing them to get in the hands of children and domestic violence abusers and former dangerous offenders, we’re going to see more of this. So until we start addressing this problem and addressing it with common sense gun laws and regulations, we’re going to continue to see these things.”

Police ask anyone with information about this shooting to call 636-529-8210 to speak with an investigator or call CrimeStoppers anonymously at 1-866-371-8477.

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