Girl shot in neck in East St. Louis

By Jeff Small

KSDK -- A five-year-old girl was taken to a St. Louis Hospital after she was shot in the neck Tuesday afternoon. She remains in critical condition.

Investigators with the East St. Louis Police Department said this all started around 1:20 p.m. at 15th and Broadway where two men were arguing.

At one point, one of the men went to an apartment across the street at the Orr Weathers housing complex. A short time later the man came back outside with a gun and started shooting at the man who he'd been arguing with earlier.

One of the stray bullets hit the young girl, who was leaving a nearby store with an adult.

Acting Police Chief Colonel Lenzie Stewart said officers from a task force were working not far from the shooting scene.

"Anybody who would start shooting a gun, seeing children in the vicinity, or anyone in the vicinity for that matter, is a dangerous person," said East St. Louis Mayor Alvin Parks.

The alleged shooter and another man were taken into custody after the incident. Police have not located the man believed to have been the target of the shooting.

A violence prevention forum is being held next week due to the recent crime in East St. Louis.

The forum takes place on Monday, November 23 at 6:30 p.m. at New Horizons Community Church at 3315 Summit Avenue in East St. Louis.