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WILKES-BARRE — A shooting late Wednesday left an 8-year-old girl injured and neighbors too shaken to speak.
The girl was injured when someone fired shots into a residence in the 200 block of West Division Street at 11:40 p.m., according to police.
The girl sustained a small, non-life-threatening wound and was treated and released at an area hospital. Police said an adult male in the residence was injured unrelated to the gunfire and was also treated and released.
Two unknown people were seen running down the street as the shots were being fired, police said. Officers used a K-9 for tracking purposes, but no suspects were located.
Leah Hernandez, 30, of nearby Vulcan Street, said she heard the shots and sirens at her home Wednesday night and was glad no one was killed.
“Way too close,” she said. “I’m nervous, but it’s everywhere really.”
Neighbor Bob Smith told Times Leader news-gathering partner Fox 56 the incident was a “sad testimony to what Wilkes-Barre is becoming.”
Smith said the city is far different today than the city he used to know.
Hernandez said she’s put her faith in police since coming to the area 10 years ago.
“They’ll figure it out, not for my peace of mind but for the poor girl’s family,” she said.
While on the scene Thursday morning, a Times Leader photographer discovered an evidence marker left behind, marking what appeared to be a spent bullet casing. The photographer called 911 and remained on the scene until officers arrived and removed the marker and the casing.
Blood could also been seen along the sidewalk in the area where the marker and casing were found.
Shortly after a reporter arrived, a woman, a young girl and a young man arrived and entered the residence. The man was wearing a hospital robe, and his left arm was heavily bandaged. The man asked the photographer to not take photos as the family went inside.
Officials from Wilkes-Barre City Police, the State Police Forensic Services Unit and the Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office are investigating.
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