Local News

Parents Make Plea For Help In Child's Shooting

BALTIMORE (WJZ) ― A mother and father are making a plea for help after their six-year-old child was shot in the crossfire of a gun battle in Northeast Baltimore.

Weijia Jiang reports it happened just after 5 p.m. Saturday in the 3200-block of Lyndale Avenue.

Police say Dontavious Mays was caught in the middle of shooting between two unknown gunmen.

"He was standing in the front yard with his hand over his chest....I put him on the ground to try to stop the bleeding and asked for help," said Stephanie Mays, the boy's mother.

The boy's father, Dwain Canty, says the bullet hit his son in the arm and then went through his chest.

"I would like for them to get the people who did that because it didn't have to happen like that," said Canty. 

The child was released from the hospital Tuesday, but his parents say he is still having problems moving his arm.

The boy was apparently playing outside with other children when the shooting started.

"They are in that neighborhood every day dealing drugs, so someone knows something. We're asking for people to step forward and do the right thing. Help us out, help bring these suspects to justice," said Donny Moses, Baltimore City Police spokesperson. "We understand people are afraid, however if as a neighborhood they don't fight back, what can they expect the police to do? We have to work in partnership, we have to work together."

Mays is asking for help from the community.

"If they were out there and they saw anything please, just please talk, say something to the police," said Mays.

Police say the street was crowded at the time of the shooting. They are still searching for the two suspects who they say fled on foot.

Stay with WJZ.COM for updates to this developing story.

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