A nine-year-old boy was shot dead and two teenagers were wounded by gunfire Monday afternoon in New Orleans.
Police Chief Shaun Ferguson said officers responding to shots being fired at around 5pm found the three young victims.
A girl described as about 15 or 16 years old was shot in the stomach and a 13-year-old boy was shot in the leg. Their younger friend, identified by family as nine-year-old Devante Bryant, died from a gunshot wound to the head.
What motivated the shooting is unknown and no suspects had been publicly identified as of Tuesday morning.
Ferguson said police so far had learned the victims were standing along a street in New Orleans' 7th Ward 'when they were approached by individuals on foot who began to fire at the victims.'
Devante Bryant, nine, was playing outside his New Orleans home on Monday when someone opened fire, killing the boy and injuring two teens
Devante's father, Donald Bryant, tearfully described the moment he saw his son bleeding on the ground. Devante would have turned 10 on July 31
Devante's father, Donald Bryant, tearfully described the moment he saw his son bleeding on the ground in the 2100 block of Pauger Street.
'I walked outside, he was just lying there,' the man recounted for WWL-TV. 'I picked him up and I laid him on the sofa. He was just not responding.'
Bryant said his son would have turned 10 on July 31.
'He was a baby, an innocent baby. He’s my baby,' the man said.
Relatives described Devante, who went by the nickname 'D-Man,' as a fun-loving, energetic boy who enjoyed playing sports and dancing, and who was known and loved by everyone in his neighborhood.
'He was just a sweet boy, always smiling,' the child's older cousin, Hari Bryant, told Nola.com. 'He got along with everybody.'
The two surviving victims of the shooting were taken to a hospital and were listed in stable condition.
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The shooting took place at around 5pm on July 13 in the 2100 of Pauger Street
A 15-year-old girl was shot in the stomach and a 13-year-old boy was shot in the leg
Police have released this image showing a white Jeep Wrangler that was reportedly seen leaving the scene of the deadly shooting
Ferguson called for witnesses to come forward with information about the triple shooting.
'I am begging you, I am pleading with you - the community - to come forward with any information that you may have,' he said.
Ferguson also implored any family members of the victims to 'let the police handle it. We do not want street justice. We do not want any more blood on our streets.'
Mayor LaToya Cantrell called the shooting that took the nine-year-old's live 'unacceptable' and promised that justice will be done 'at every single level,' reported Fox 8.
'Any time in which we, as a society, are talking about social justice vs. social injustice, we as a community need to take a look at ourselves and what is it we are doing, what is it that we are accepting as a norm with this Black on Black violence,' said Ferguson, who is Black.
Police have released a photo of a white Jeep Wrangler that was possibly used as the getaway vehicle in the shooting.
Three people dressed in dark clothing, hooded sweatshirts and face masks were allegedly seen inside the vehicle at the scene of the homicide.
Devante is at least the seventh child to die as a result of gun violence in the US since the Fourth of July weekend.
On July 3, Royta De'MArco Giles Jr was spending time at the Riverchase Galleria mall in Hoover, Alabama, when he was caught in the crossfire during a gun battle between several men.
Secoriea Turner, eight, was riding in her mother's car in Atlanta on July 4 when it came across a makeshift checkpoint manned by gunmen near the spot where Rayshard Brooks was shot dead by police.
Since the Fourth of July weekend, at least seven children have been shot dead in the US, including Royta De'Marco Giles, 8 (left), in Alabama, and Natalia Wallace, 7, in Chicago (right)
Secoriea Turner, 8 (left), was riding in her mother's car in Atlanta, when she was shot be someone at a makeshift checkpoint. Davon McNeal, 11 (right), was visiting family in Washington DC when he was shot in the head
As Secoriea's mother tried to go around the barricade, someone opened fire on her car, killing her daughter in the backseat.
Davon McNeal, 11, was visiting family in Washington DC on the night of July 4 when a group of five men opened fire.
Davon was shot in the head and killed as he was walking to his aunt's home to grab a phone charger.
Natalia Wallace, seven, was playing with other children in Chicago when three suspects got out of a car and opened fire, shooting the girl in the forehead.
Hours later, a six-year-old boy was shot and killed in San Francisco.
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