Girl, 14, charged with murder in shooting of boy, 11, in Dallas

NEW YORK: A 14-year-old girl in Dallas, in the southern US state of Texas, has been charged with murder following the fatal shooting of an 11-year-old boy who was hit by a stray bullet on Sunday, Xinhua quoted Dallas police as saying.

Police were called to a report of a shooting at an apartment complex in south Dallas on Sunday afternoon. As part of the investigation, police determined a fight was going on between two girls in the parking lot of the complex, according to a CNN report earlier this week.

"One juvenile suspect retrieved a handgun and shot in the direction of the female she was fighting; however, the shot struck a male juvenile bystander," Dallas police said in a statement.

The suspect initially ran away from the location but was later taken into custody and charged, the report said.

The victim, an 11-year-old boy, was a fifth grader with the DeSoto Independent School District, according to a statement from the district.

"Losing a student is one of the most difficult experiences one can have as an educator. It is akin to losing a child as these are our children," said DeSoto ISD Superintendent of Schools Usamah Rodgers.

A record number of more than 6,000 children and teens were injured or killed in shootings in the United States in 2022, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a website that tracks gun incident trends in the country.

-- BERNAMA