Neighbors react to shooting that leaves one child in critical condition

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind. --- A child is in critical condition after a shooting involving two kids Saturday night. It happened on Woodbine Way in South Bend around 10:30 P.M. Neighbors say they were shocked and heartbroken when they heard about the shooting that happened on their street that night.

“You see yellow tape go up, you know it’s something more serious," says a nearby resident, Ryan Putz.

Residents on and near Woodbine Way were checking in with each other Saturday night after hearing and seeing emergency vehicles fly down their normally quiet street.

“I noticed through one of the windows, saw the flashing lights through there, so I know it had been just right around the corner. I didn’t know what happened, eventually I contacted one of our neighbors to see if they could see anything," recalls Putz. “Then later on, I heard back from someone saying they were putting up police tape and it had been something more serious.”

Neighbors say the last thing they expected was to hear about a shooting involving two kids.

"I thought it maybe could’ve been an accident or something, we didn’t hear any gunfire so we assumed that maybe, it could’ve been someone passed away or could have been an accident," says Putz. "It kind of surprised us once we found out what actually happened.”

With gun violence on the rise in South Bend, shootings are making people feel more concerned for their own safety, but in this case, neighbors are more concerned about the condition of the child that was shot.

“There’s reports of shootings within five miles around here quite often, which is sad to be a common occurrence but it does happen," says Putz. "But for something like this involving a child, you never want to see anything like that happen.”