A three-year-old girl was hospitalized after she was shot in the back seat of a car in Santa Ana Sunday night.
It happened around 15th and Spurgeon Streets. Neighbors in the area told KNX News' Jon Baird they heard four or five shots that night.
According to police, two bullets struck the white Nissan Altima, and one of them "traveled through the trunk, into the passenger compartment," striking the 3-year-old girl. A 4-year-old girl was also in the backseat but was uninjured, police said.
The injured girl's mother, who was driving the car, immediately drove to Children's Hospital of Orange County, where the girl underwent surgery. She remains hospitalized in critical but stable condition.
Santa Ana police said investigators "believe the adult male passenger was the intended target, and the shooting was gang-related."
"Both adults were interviewed and cooperated with detectives," according to a police statement. "Neither have been arrested."
Santa Ana police Officer Natalie Garcia said the man in the car was the boyfriend of the girls' mother.
According to Garcia, the gunman is believed to have been on foot and fired at the moving vehicle. He was described only as a man.
City News Service contributed to this report.
