LAFAYETTE, La. — We’ve learned the name and condition of the nine-year-old girl shot in Lafayetteon Tuesday.
Her name is A’Kaylen Beale. She successfully underwent surgery and is now being monitored at a Lafayette hospital.
KATC’s Victor Jorges spoke to Katherine Bob and Bryson Broussard, the girl's parents, to see how she is doing. They say she’s still in a lot of pain and very tired, but she’s taking steps towards a full recovery.
"She walked for the very first time today, so we got her up and walked,” said her mother. “So, we're happy about that. She's still in pain, but she's walking. A lot of people aren't walking the second day after."
Although they are grateful for A’Kaylen’s progress, they’re shocked about what happened.
"No one expects that to happen when kids come off the bus,” said her mother.
Her parents tell me that it’s a phone call nobody expects to get.
"Especially when the day was going good. you get a phone call 'your daughter got shot'... that just turned everything upside down,” said her father.
Bob and Broussard say A’Kaylen was shot in the lower back. The bullet hit her liver and caused her lung to collapse.
Police say two men were arguing in a nearby parking lot on E. Simcoe Street when someone started shooting. The girl was shot when she was inside her grandmother's home in the Oakview Apartments complex.
On the scene, neighbors told KATC, they heard 7 or 8 shots. A’Kaylen was the only person injured.
"I'm just telling all these young people: put those guns down,” said her mother. “My baby was innocent, walking in the house, not knowing, ready to tell us about her day. Life is short and life is precious."
KATC reached out to police to get an update on the investigation. They say they do have a few leads but no arrests as of Nov. 4.
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