Two children were shot and injured at a Burger King drive-thru in Durham, North Carolina while waiting in a vehicle for their dinner on Thursday evening.
According to the Durham County Sheriff's Office, the shooting occurred at approximately 7 p.m. at one of the fast-food chain's locations in the 1600 block of U.S. Route 70. The two children, ages 2 and 11, were in the back seat of the car when a bullet broke through a window and hit them.
The family immediately left the area to take the children, who suffered non-life-threatening injuries, to a local hospital, police said.
Witnesses told investigators that they heard multiple shots fired at the same time the car with the two children was struck. Officials said they don't believe the injured family to be the intended target of the shooting.
Durham Sheriff Clarence Birkhead said that when he sees gun violence begin impacting families, "I am just ready to start saying enough is enough."
"As you know, Durham has experienced unprecedented gun violence," Birkhead told WRAL News. "Here again, we have innocent bystanders [who] are getting caught up in the senseless gunfire that's happening in Durham."
"All of these cases are unfortunate, but when you see young people—our children—continue to be caught up in these types of senseless gunplay, it certainly does hit home," he added.
No suspects were seen in the area. Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call Detective Gould with the Criminal Investigation Division at 919-560-0880 or Durham Crime Stoppers at 919-683-1200.
Last weekend, a 6-year-old girl who had been sleeping in a living room chair was struck by a bullet after shots were fired into a North Carolina home.
At around 1 a.m. on Saturday, shots were fired into a Sampson County home and struck 6-year-old Bella Young. Her aunt told WRAL News that one of the bullets went through the girl's arm and into her torso.
According to the Sampson County Sheriff's Office, the 6-year-old was transported to the emergency room at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center. The shooting is currently under investigation.
Young's aunt said she doesn't know why anyone would target their home, adding that the girl was expected to survive despite needing to have her arm reconstructed.
Statistics show that there has been an increase in gun violence in North Carolina in recent years.
Between 2019 and 2020, the state saw a 31 percent increase in gun-related deaths, compared to the national increase of 25 percent, according to a report from NC Policy Watch, a project from the North Carolina Justice Center. In 2020 alone, 670 people were killed by gunfire in the state.
