This browser does not support the Video element.
DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - DeKalb County police are searching for a gunman who officers said shot a young child who was riding the back seat of a car driven by his uncle. The bullet hit the child in the leg after traveling through the car door.
His mother and grandmother are by his side as he recovers from his surgery. He is expected to okay, but his mother said she still wants the person who put her son there caught.
“I just want whoever did it to stay something, even if it wasn't on purpose,” said Chemise Gaines, the young boy’s mother.
Gaines could not hold back the tears, thinking at how close she came to losing her son Demetrise.Sunday night, Chemise's uncle picked up Demetrise, along with his little brother Nicholas, to take them over to his house. She said as they pulled out of their DeKalb County apartment complex, they heard a shot. The bullet came through the driver side rear door, hitting Demetrise in the leg.
“He told my uncle, ‘My knee popped.’ He said ‘What are you talking about?’ He said ‘My leg hurt,’ so he turned around that's when he saw the blood," said Gaines.
Demetrise ended up at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston.
“I'm scared. He's only 4. He's never felt a pain like that. I've never felt a pain like that so I can't imagine what he's going through. I know he's scared,” said Gaines.
DeKalb County Police are investigating. Chemise does not know who would have done this, but she doesn't think it was random.
“The way my uncle put it, he feels it was intentionally done. And not only my kids, my uncle could have lost his life. He helps me out a lot and he could have lost his life,” said Gaines.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to call DeKalb County Police Department.