A Philadelphia woman allegedly shot a 7-month-old baby in his stroller last week over a debt owed by one of his parents, according to a short surveillance video clip released by local police on Thursday.
The clip allegedly shows Dominique Billips, 28, walk up to a pair of people pushing a stroller. Billips fires in their direction and towards the stroller as one person, allegedly the boy’s father runs away.
The child’s mother, who Rosenbaum said was a juvenile, can be heard screaming, “My baby!” The shooter replies, “Fuck your baby, bitch.”
Surveillance footage taken of a shooting on 4000 block of Meridian Street via Philadelphia Police Department
Billips was arrested on Friday and charged with several offenses, including aggravated assault, Philadelphia Police Lieutenant Dennis Rosenbaum said at a press conference on Saturday.
“You knew they had a stroller, what makes you walk up to someone with a stroller and shoot them?” Rosenbaum said.
Police said in a news release that the child was shot once in the leg . The baby’s condition is now stable, according to Rosenbaum. No one else was hurt.
When officers arrived at the scene, the parents were gone and the baby had been taken to the hospital by a neighbor. Officers later found them a few blocks away. Rosenbaum said the parents may have fled the scene out of fear of being arrested on outstanding warrants they had, which he said were for nonviolent crimes.
A man who said he witnessed the shooting and took the 7-month-old to hospital told NBC Philadelphia that he felt like he had to protect the child.
“It was overwhelming. It was scary. This person came up and didn’t care with no remorse and just fired and walked away like nothing happened,” he told the outlet.
The parents told detectives during questioning that there was an argument before the shooting stemming from a $100 drug debt the father owes Billips, according to Rosenbaum. Police believe the baby’s father was the target of the shooting.
Its unclear if Billips has an attorney representing her. The Philadelphia County district attorney’s office could not immediately give comment to HuffPost.
Authorities said they identified the shooter after receiving information from the public and enhancing surveillance footage. Rosenbaum told reporters that an officer also recognized Billips as a victim involved in another shooting in 2022.
Billips was located by highway patrol officers and taken into custody without incident, according to Rosenbaum.
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