Four juveniles were shot in Durham late Sunday night, with one victim left in life-threatening condition after officers responded to the 700 block of Hedgerow Place just after 11 p.m. Three of the victims were found at the scene with gunshot wounds, while a fourth juvenile turned up at a local hospital with a gunshot wound the following day.
Durham police officers responded at 11:05 p.m. on Sunday to reports of a shooting in the 700 block of Hedgerow Place, according to WRAL. Officers arrived to find three juvenile victims with gunshot wounds, and one of them suffered injuries described as life-threatening. All three were taken to the hospital for treatment.
A fourth juvenile arrived at a local hospital on Monday with a gunshot wound, bringing the total number of young people hurt in the incident to four. That victim's injuries were described as non-life-threatening, per the same report. As of Monday, the investigation into what led to the shooting was still ongoing, and police have not released information about a suspect or a motive.
Police Seek Tips as Case Remains Open
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact Officer J. Zemites at 919-560-4582 or Durham CrimeStoppers at (919) 683-1200. Callers may remain anonymous, and Durham CrimeStoppers accepts tips submitted online, with cash rewards of up to $2,000 available for information leading to an arrest in felony cases.
A Pattern of Young Durham Shooting Victims
The Hedgerow Place shooting adds to a string of recent incidents around Durham involving young victims. A girl was fatally shot on Sept. 22 after two juveniles were playing with a gun that discharged on North Duke Street, as reported by The News & Observer. In Raleigh, two small children got hold of a semiautomatic pistol on Aug. 29, and one was shot in the arm, the newspaper also reported. The News & Observer additionally noted that a 4-year-old Durham boy died the previous summer after accidentally shooting himself with an unsecured gun at a home on North Briggs Avenue.
Separately, Durham police have investigated other recent shootings involving juveniles, including one in which a wounded juvenile walked into an EMS station on Old Fayetteville Street around 9:30 p.m. on a Saturday night and was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to CBS 17. That outlet reported a separate drive-by shooting on the 100 block of South Elm Street occurred minutes earlier, though police had not said whether the two incidents were connected.
Firearm Injuries Among Children a Persistent Issue
The toll of gun violence on children has drawn national attention in recent years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 1,262 unintentional firearm injury deaths among U.S. children 17 or younger between 2003 and 2021, per The News & Observer. Of those deaths, 33% were among children ages 11 to 15, 29% involved children 5 or younger, 24% were ages 16 to 17, and 14% were ages 6 to 10.
Durham-specific numbers from past years illustrate how often young people turn up among the city's shooting victims, though figures have varied by source. WRAL reported that as of June 3, 2023, some 20 people younger than 18 had been shot in Durham that year out of 78 total shooting victims citywide, while the same WRAL report elsewhere cited at least 21 juvenile victims over that same period. The Hedgerow Place shooting remains under investigation, and no further details about the circumstances have been released.
