It was supposed to be an evening of fun. Eight-year-old Alaysha Carradine was sleeping over at a friend’s house in Oakland, excited to go to a modeling show on Thursday with her buddy. Instead, the unimaginable happened, even in a city that has sometimes become desensitized to violence. The would-be third grader was gunned down just after 11 p.m. Wednesday when she opened the door and was met with a barrage of bullets – at least 12 holes were found riddled in the front door.
Alaysha, who her family called “Ladybug,” was killed, earning her the dubious distinction of becoming Oakland’s 54th homicide victim this year. She had turned 8 less than a month ago on June 28. “This is about as low as you can possibly get,” Oakland Police Chief Sean Whent said. “What kind of human being shoots a little girl?”
Alaysha’s 7-year-old friend, her 4-year-old brother and their 63-year-old grandmother were also struck by bullets, but all three are expected to recover from the shooting at an apartment complex in the 3400-block of Wilson Avenue near MacArthur Boulevard, not considered to be among Oakland’s roughest parts of town. In fact, nearby is a quaint library and a strip of well-trafficked shops and restaurants.
The mayor and police chief visited Children’s Hospital late Thursday morning, bringing teddy bears to the surviving brother and sister. “Tragedy has struck again,” Jesse Fowler, 24, told NBC Bay Area on Thursday morning. Alaysha, whom he described as a funny, talkative, helpful student at Fruitvale Elementary School, is the daughter of his girlfriend, Chiquita Carradine, who was in Washington, D.C., when her daughter was killed. He broke the news to her by phone, and she is heading back home. “She’s not doing too good,” Fowler said of Alaysha’s mother. “She doesn’t want to accept it.”
Source: Information Nigeria
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