Minneapolis police chief: ‘Absolutely reckless celebratory behavior’ led to 11-year-old girl’s shooting
Authorities say a felon celebrating the new year by drinking and firing an AR-15 rifle into the air led to the shooting of an 11-year-old Minneapolis girl who was inside her home.
Two days after the shooting, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara held a press conference to announce and arrest and call the shooting a case of “absolutely reckless celebratory behavior.”
“I think it’s ridiculous and sad that we have to be here today to have this press conference,” O’Hara said, adding that it’s “an example of how stupid that is to engage in that behavior.”
Just two days before her 12th birthday, Laneria Wilson is spending it recovering from her injury and sitting in a small hotel room in Coon Rapids, awaiting surgery to remove a bullet fragment from her face. She is still processing the trauma she endured on New Year’s Day when celebration turned into a tragedy.
Police say Wilson was in her bedroom when she was struck in the face by a stray bullet just minutes into the new year. James William Turner, of Fridley, has been arrested in connection to the shooting, O’Hara says.
“Twelve o’clock exactly, we heard gunshots that sounded like it was in our front yard,” said Wilson’s mom, Shenedra Ross.
Ross says both her daughters were in their bedrooms when a bullet flew through their window just after midnight. When Wilson got hit, her older sister called out to Ross for help.
“I’m really trying not to panic because she’s in my arms and I’m trying to stay as calm as I can so she can stay calm,” Ross recalled.
She was taken to a hospital for treatment, but her injury wasn’t considered life-threatening. O’Hara says it’s “by the grace of God” that Wilson was only injured and not killed.
“I just want whoever did this to pay. Like I don’t care how long it takes, I want you to pay for what you did to my baby,” Ross said.
The family says they want to move out of their North Minneapolis home and have a GoFundMe account set up for donations to help pay for moving expenses.
Click the video box below to watch O’Hara’s full press conference.