1-year-old shot in head, father injured in Mesquite drive-by shooting
Father-son hurt in Mesquite drive-by shooting
A toddler and his father were injured in a drive-by shooting in a Mesquite home on New Year's Eve. Police are trying to find the shooter but don't even have a suspect description yet and aren't even sure who was being targeted because it seems like the father and son were just innocent victims.
MESQUITE, Texas - A toddler and his father were injured in a drive-by shooting in a Mesquite home on New Year's Eve.
Police are trying to find the shooter but don't even have a suspect description yet and aren't even sure who was being targeted because it seems like the father and son were just innocent victims.
A parked car in the neighborhood was also shot at, but the person inside was not hit.
Maria Arellano planned to have a safe New Year’s Eve celebration with more than a dozen family members inside her Mesquite home off Springwood Drive.
Instead, two of her family members were hit by gunfire that appears to be intended for someone else, according to Mesquite police.
"I was trying to see what was going on with my son," Arellano recalled. "But then I heard her saying, ‘The baby’s bleeding! The baby’s bleeding!’ I said, ‘Oh my God!’"
Arellano’s 1-year-old grandson was shot in the head. The child’s father who was holding him was grazed in the neck. Miraculously, the two survived.
Police are searching for the shooter.
"You can actually hurt innocent people. My boys are innocent. They had nothing to do with whatever’s going on. Nothing. Nothing to do," Arellano said.
A neighbor's grainy surveillance footage released by police shows a car driving near Arellano’s home around 7 p.m.
Police say the driver got out and shot at a man in a parked car, likely with a manipulated pistol that fires in rapid succession.
Police say at least nine 9-mm shell casings were collected as evidence.
The car was hit, but a bullet also entered Arellano’s home. The man in the car was not struck. His only injuries were from broken glass.
"We were able to talk to the victim in the vehicle, and he does not know why this occurred," said Mesquite Police Lt. Brandon Ricketts.
A puzzling investigation because police do not know who was the target, if the shooter had the wrong target or other possibilities.
"We want to devote as many resources as we have to find out who did this so it doesn’t happen again," Ricketts said.
"It has happened before to where there’s been multiple shootings just on this corner. Just on this area," Arellano said.
Arellano has many questions and wants answers. For now, she knows her family’s story could have been deadly.
"I don’t wish this upon anybody," she said. "I just want people that do this to think about the consequences."
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Mesquite police at 972-285-6336 or email majorcrimes@cityofmesquite.com.