Police search for clues in shooting of girl, 7

Philadelphia police are searching for leads in a Saturday night shooting in West Philadelphia that struck a young girl in the head.

The girl, 7, is expected to recover. The bullet hit her skull as she sat in her parents' car on the 5400 block of Haverford Avenue but did not penetrate it, said Lt. John Walker of Southwest Detectives.

Investigators are unsure what led to the shooting, Walker said.

The girl's parents had stopped the car, a Chevrolet Impala, in front of their apartment about 9 p.m., with the girl and her sisters, ages 4 and 3, in the backseat.

That's when the parents saw a car speed around theirs, Walker said, and something shattered the Chevy's back window. The children began to scream, and their parents turned to see their 7-year-old covered in blood, Walker said.

A shell casing was later found in the road where the shooting took place.

On Monday, investigators were still trying to determine whether the shot fired was road-rage-related, or a bullet meant for someone else, Walker said. About a block away, a 14-year-old had been hit recently by a stray bullet in a drug feud, he said.

No witnesses have come forward, and detectives have not found video footage of the incident. They were planning to make another sweep of the area Monday, Walker said.

He called the shooting "horrifying" and asked anyone with any information to call the police tip line at 215-686-TIPS.

"People should be able to feel safe in their neighborhood," he said.