A worried mother shared her shock when she learned her 9-year-old daughter, Ruanna, got hurt while playing in a Brooklyn park. Melissa Alexander, 36, was at work when she got the call. She rushed home and fainted twice on the way because she couldn’t believe it. Ruanna and her cousin, Empress, 11, were hit by stray bullets at the Hilltop Playground in Brownsville.
Melissa said she often feels uneasy about the park’s safety, especially when it’s warm out. She’s warned Ruanna to avoid going there on some days. Ruanna was shot in the leg but was released from the hospital on Tuesday. Her cousin, hit in the back, was still at the hospital for tests.
The girls, who are best friends, were playing when gunmen, aiming at someone else, started shooting. The shooters ran off, leaving the girls wounded.
The police are checking if the shooting was gang-related and confirmed the girls were not involved. Melissa said the shooters began firing suddenly, and the girls didn’t realize they were hit at first.
In the area where the shooting happened, there have been more murders and shootings this year compared to last year. Melissa, who has lived in the neighborhood her whole life, is deeply upset by what happened to her daughter.
She said, “I’m hurt, I’m disturbed, I’m at a loss for words.” She’s sad that her daughter could have lost her life in their own neighborhood.