As he continues to recover, the 12-year-old remains hospitalized on Friday, marking a week since being hit in the head with a lost bullet from the Inland Empire.
Members of the community are trying to organize the help of the boy and his family, especially as they are already struggling with the experience of homelessness.
“This kid, he’s a fighter, and we’re optimistic about the situation,” said Joshua Ruster, the cor chief of Ontario Police Department.
As of Friday night, the boy was said to be hospitalized in a stable condition.
“I think he got hit on the back of his head,” Ruster said. “It was just one gunshot.”
Officials said on April 4, the innocent teen was caught in a crossfire between two men fighting in the parking lot while sitting in the back seat of their parents’ car at Veterans Park.
Ontario PD officers have arrived and began treating young victims with life-saving measures. He was then taken to a local trauma center in dangerous conditions.
There he underwent emergency surgery before being taken to the child’s trauma center for more treatment.
According to investigations, detectives determined that the violence began as an oral battle between two men in a park car park, and quickly escalated into a shootout exchange, accidentally attacking a young boy.
Police arrested the suspect and identified him as 25-year-old Damien Marquis Berry of Victorville and Anthony Dionte Irwing of Los Angeles, 35.
“Each of them has a wide range of criminal history, including violent crime,” the department said. “Berry is currently registered as a post-release Community Supervision (PRCS), and Erwing is currently on Los Angeles County probation.”
The sudden bout of violence is home to Ontario residents at the edge. Especially because the park often has children playing openly.
The boy has not been publicly identified by officials, but community members said he is a sixth grader in the Ontario Montclair School District.
Teachers and community members told KTLA’s Shelby Nelson that the boy is part of the after-school program at the park where many children and their families come.
“We don’t want the public to feel unsafe in our park,” Luster said. “We want to let them know that this is an isolated situation and that we are not going to accept it.”
The Ontario Provincial Police Department urged anyone with information about the incident to contact Detective Gabe Gutierrez at 909-408-1632 or non-emergency routes at 909-986-6711.
Additionally, anonymous tips can be submitted to 800-78-Crime or www.wetip.com.
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