'I'm back with my family': 8-year-old speaks out after being shot by scooter rider in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- An 8-year-old girl who was shot in Philadelphia's Kensington neighborhood last week is now out of the hospital and home with family.
Action News spoke with Keilyn Natareno and her father, Orlando Natareno, on the recent tragedy.
"I feel happy that I'm back from the hospital and I'm back with my family," Keilyn said while holding back tears.
The shooting happened last Thursday around 3 p.m. after a driver hit a scooter rider who was traveling west on the 300 block of East Allegheny Avenue.
Video obtained by Action News shows the crash and then the scooter rider opening fire on the block.
Police say the suspect shot three bystanders, including Keilyn, who was struck while inside the car with her father. She had just left the Lewis Elkin Elementary School when she was shot.
The second-grade student spent three days at St. Christopher's Hospital recovering after the bullet grazed her head.
As she begins to recover from the trauma she has experienced, Philadelphia police continue searching for the man who caused it.
Keilyn's father spoke with Action News through a translator on Monday.
"She was bleeding from her head. I got up, stood up, and I didn't understand what was going on," Orlando said.
He said he didn't hear any gunshots, but he saw a bullet hole in his windshield.
Scared at the time, Orlando said he called 911 and then rushed his daughter to the hospital.
"In that moment when I was going to the hospital, the police were blocking the streets so I can enter directly and they can receive me," he explained.
"The doctors had said thankfully, the bullet didn't hit her directly on the head, but it went through the side of her head," Orlando explained.
The gunfire also hit a 45-year-old man in the leg and a 47-year-old woman, who was inside another vehicle.
The school district confirmed that the 47-year-old victim is a teacher at Conwell Middle School. She was shot twice in the face.
All three victims were listed in stable condition.
The scooter operator and the driver who hit him both left the scene.
"I can't understand living in a country like this and with this security, and they can't capture the person," Orlando said.
He said his daughter, who dreams of being an artist, doesn't understand what happened to her last week.
He said he is so thankful she is going to be ok.
"God made a miracle," he said. "Maybe he moved her, or shifted her so the bullet would pass her, or maybe an angel shifted her so the bullet wouldn't hit her. It is a miracle."
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 215-686-TIPS.
