A day after a toddler was shot in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood, Mayor Marty Walsh is voicing his frustrations with the child's parent.
“That's a coward right there,” said Walsh. “Her father has information on this and he should step up and be a man here and give the information to police so they can find out who shot his two year old daughter.”
According to Boston Police Commissioner William Evans, the two-year-old girl was in the back seat of a vehicle on Degautier Way on Saturday afternoon when a bullet meant for her father, struck her in her hand and leg.
The father, who has not been identified, took the girl to the hospital where she is expected to make a full recovery.
Police said the man, who they say is a known gang member, is not cooperating with authorities.
Last Sunday, a 9-year-old girl was shot at a Roxbury playground on Annunciation Road in the middle of a housing complex at about 1 a.m.
That shooter has also still not been found but the girl is expected to recover.
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“The last two have been tough," Walsh said. “You have a 9-year-old girl who was shot in a park and you had a 2-year-old in her car seat.”
While police say gang violence around Boston is not as bad as other areas around the country, it's still a threat they need the community to help address. And in the case of Saturday's shooting, authorities are waiting for a parent to step in to help.
“He clearly is not talking to police about it which is... I just can fathom that,” Walsh said.
Anyone with information in either shooting is asked to contact Boston Police at 1-800-494-tips.
