'Stop shooting!' 11-year-old boy injured by bullet shot into air Fourth of July

INDIANAPOLIS — Out of at least nine people shot in what was a violent Fourth of July night, an 11-year-old boy was the city's youngest victim.

Jataeviuos Ragsdale is recovering at a local hospital after being struck by a stray bullet shot into the air while visiting family for the holiday, his father said Friday.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police said the shooting happened in the 1100 block of North Tuxedo Street. Family members said Ragsdale was struck around 10:15 p.m. and they rushed him to a hospital where police arrived more than 30 minutes later.

Jataeviuos and his family traveled from their home in Terry, Mississippi to celebrate the Fourth with family. They saw family members and others in the neighborhood setting off fireworks when the boy was hit, said his father Arthur Ragsdale.

"We hadn't been there for two minutes when my son said, 'Dad, my back hurts! Something's hit me in my back!'" Ragsdale said. "I lifted up his shirt and there's what we later figured out was a 22 caliber bullet lodged right under this skin. My son was in so much pain."At first the family could not tell where the bullet came from.

"It was so many things popping off, you couldn't tell fireworks from a gunshot," Ragsdale said. "We didn't know where it came from and police told us later on that it could have been shot from three or four blocks away."

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Ragsdale loaded his son back in the car and immediately drove to Community East, the nearest emergency room.

One day later, the boy was in stable condition as the family weighed his options.

"The bullet is still in his back. Doctors here said we can either have it taken out or keep it in and his mother and I agree that we want it out," Ragsdale said.

In a news conference Friday afternoon IMPD Chief Chris Bailey called the actions of those who shoot aimlessly into the air "stupidity."

"That poor kid did not have to be impacted by bullets yesterday. It's 100% preventable. Someone's reckless behavior, and you know who you are, you're reckless. You have no business owning a gun. You have no business possessing a gun," Bailey said.

The police chief said this is something that officers have told the community, "over and over and over and over again," that shooting into the air is reckless behavior. Bullets come down once they go up.

"You can imagine what an 11-year-old must feel like trying to enjoy Independence Day and being hit by a bullet," Bailey said. "It's just disturbing and unnecessary."

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The 11-year-old is still in the hospital, but Ragsdale said the family will leave the city soon to go back home. He wants people to know that they should not be shooting their firearms in the first place.

"I just want people to be aware of these guns," Ragsdale said. "Stop shooting! My son was just standing around."

Contact Jade Jackson at Jade.Jackson@IndyStar.com. Follow her on Twitter @IAMJADEJACKSON