Deja vu for 10-year-old shooting victim

It was just after midnight a week ago when police say someone opened fire outside a house on West High Street in Elkton targeting someone inside.

“Multiple rounds went through the glass windows, through the doorways, the walls and entered the residence and the young man who was struck was actually laying on the opposite side of the home on the couch,” said Elkton Police Det. Lt. Ron Odom.

That young man, a 10-year-old boy, was struck in the same leg where he was wounded in a similar shooting on Huntsman Drive in May of 2020.

The people responsible for that shooting have already been brought to justice, but now a different gunman has struck in similar fashion.

“The odds are just astronomical, you know? You don’t think something like this would happen a second time, especially to a child this young,” said Odom, “but there are things at play that unfortunately put this child at risk and he has family members and people inside that home to thank for that.”

Whether the target was one of the victim’s family members or some of their associates, it’s the child who has suffered, and many now are wondering aloud if social services should intercede on his behalf.

“The stance I feel like they take is that the parents didn’t directly abuse the child so they’re kind of more of a hands off thing with it instead of looking at the totality of the behavior that brought the violence to the door to begin with,” said Odom.

We spoke to the victim’s grandmother who did not wish to go on camera, but tells us he’s recovering fine physically, but is still dealing with the emotional trauma of the shooting.

Another shooting that is where yet another bullet has found the same unintended target.