Girl, 6, Shot On Grandmother's Porch; 'Mama, My Stomach Hurt'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A 6-year-old girl was expected to make a full recovery after she was shot while playing on her grandmother's porch in Englewood.
Tacarra Morgan was shot in the abdomen as she tried to run inside when dozens of bullets started flying on the 6000 block of South Paulina Street around 1 p.m. Tuesday.
Police said three vehicles, including a white SUV, turned into the area and targeted a group on the block.
Tacarra's grandmother recalled the moment when a stray bullet hit her granddaughter's stomach.
"We just panicked, you know? We panicked, because that's our baby," Johnnie Morris said.
The 74-year-old has seen a lot in her life, but she said this was a first; gunfire directed toward her porch in broad daylight.
"My granddaughter was sitting there. I was sitting right there," she said.
No one knew Tacarra was hurt until "she said 'Mama, my stomach hurt,'" Morris said.
Tacarra was calm even as her stomach bled, a bullet lodged inside.
"My daughter looked down. She seen blood on her shirt. She raised the shirt up, and she started crying," Morris said. "She said 'Mama, what happened? What happened to me'? We said 'You got shot.'"
First Deputy Supt. John Escalante said the shooting appeared to be gang related.
"We're looking for a white SUV that we know that the shooter was in. We're still trying to confirm the involvement of the two other vehicles that looked like they were caravanning with this white SUV," he said.
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Tacarra was taken to Comer Children's Hospital after the shooting. Morris family said surgery went well and doctors said Tacarra should make a full recovery.
"This is a child, like any other child in the city of Chicago, who should be able to enjoy a warm summer day, and play in the front of her house, and play on her porch with her family," Escalante said.
The Chicago Police Department, local parent patrols, block clubs, and other community groups planned to host an "Operation Wake Up" rally against gun violence on the block at 7 p.m. Wednesday on the block where Tacarra was shot. Police have organized such operations before to bring the community together after shootings to work together against violent crime.
Morris said even if the gunman is taken off the street, she won't feel any safer.
"I'm afraid to be out here myself," she said. "My granddaughter, she's going to have her a 3-year-old birthday party out there on Saturday. She's afraid to have it out there now, because she don't know if somebody is going to drive by shooting or not."
Tacarra was the 19th child under age 10 shot this year in Chicago. In the past 28 days, eight children under 10 have been shot.
No one was in custody for Tacarra's shooting Wednesday morning. Area South Detectives were investigating.
