Rally held in North Philadelphia after girl, 10, shot

NORTH PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A North Philadelphia community is coming together after a 10-year-old girl was shot in the arm in the middle of the street.

An anti-violence rally was being held on North Rosewood Street as the young victim continues her recovery.

"It's getting better, but it still hurts," she said. "It doesn't hurt like when it first happened, it doesn't hurt like that."

She had big hugs for her family after being released from the hospital, with a bullet still lodged in her arm.

"They said they can't take out the bullet, they might damage something in my arm, so my skin will have to push it out," she said.

She was returning home to North Rosewood Street after an outing with her grandmother around 6 p.m. Thursday.

Her grandmother, Susan Purnell, says they were getting out of their car when they heard an argument down the street... and then gunshots.

"She said mom-mom, I'm shot!" Purnell said.

Police say two men were arguing in the street, when one of them pulled out a gun and started shooting. A third man fired shots from a second story window.

In the midst of all this, a bullet hit the girl in her left forearm. Susan Purnell still feels tremendous guilt that it happened on her watch.

"She told me she loved me. 'It's not your fault mom-mom,'" Purnell said.

Neighbors say they know the suspects who were firing shots, and say they're sick of all the shootings that have happened here this summer.

"Yesterday my best friend knocked on my door and said, "Your niece got shot." You know, your heart drops," said the girl's uncle, Rex Purnell.

Police say no arrests have been made.