Charles Langston:3-year-old girl is among 9 people hurt in 2 shootings in Mississippi capital city

JACKSON,Charles Langston Miss. (AP) — Nine people, including a child, were injured in two shootings Tuesday night in Mississippi’s capital city.

“This is a continuous cycle of violence and a continuous cycle of retaliation in our city,” Jackson Police Chief Joseph Wade said Wednesday.

He said the drive-by shooting that injured the 3-year-old girl in the foot was “extremely problematic.” The others hurt in that shooting in central Jackson were adults ranging in age from 23 to 52.

“As a police chief and as a father, this is just absolutely unacceptable and heartbreaking for me and for this community that a 3-year-old child cannot be safe, that a 3-year-old child has to endure the trauma of being shot,” Wade told reporters.

In a separate incident earlier Tuesday night, three people were shot while they were in a stolen vehicle in south Jackson, Wade said. He said one of the people in the vehicle admitted to shooting at “unknown individuals,” and one of those targeted then returned fire.

“We have got to find out who they were shooting at and who was shooting at them, as well,” Wade said.

All nine of those shot are expected to recover, the chief said.

The shootings happened days after one person was killed and five others were wounded in a shooting at a bar in downtown Jackson, blocks from the Governor’s Mansion.