Toddler shot in Tampa; police investigating

TAMPA (FOX 13) - Police are investigating the shooting of a toddler in Tampa Wednesday afternoon.

The call came in at 12:25 p.m. When officers arrived on scene at 404 Hernandez Court, the discovered that a toddler had been shot in the leg. The child was taken to the hospital, suffering from non-life threatening injuries.

Hours after the shooting, Aaliyah Avila's mother, Raneisha was too upset to speak. Police were combing through the bullet holes of her apartment door, trying to figure out who fired fifteen bullets through the door.

"It is pure daylight, and a child has been shot and it is sad," said Reva Iman, the resident council representative to the Tampa Housing Authority.

Avila was inside with her mother and another child when her father, Eduardo Avila, burst through the door, presumably to hide from several men who approached and made threats.

"Clearly they were targeting someone, but when the door shut, they were firing indiscriminantly," said Steve Hegarty of the Tampa Police Department.

Police say one bullet went through the wall, banged off something and hit the toddler in the thigh.

The shooters took off and she was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, leaving a family and their neighbors, in terror.

"Enough is enough," said Iman. "How can we combat this to come together as a community to make this community here safe?"

Iman says the agency must provide more security to a neighborhood that she says has seen far too many dangerous incidents.

"A lot of residents fear for their safety here," said Iman. "They hate to call the police, they hate to go to the front office, because they fear retaliation against them."

No one else in the apartment was injured.

There is no word as to when Aaliyah will be released.