MIAMI – A 3-year-old girl remained at Jackson Memorial Hospital on Monday morning after she was wounded during a Liberty City gunfight Sunday afternoon.
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Police escorted Miami Fire Rescue paramedics to take Ayana, who was shot in the foot. She was expected to recover. Her mother, Kiera Daniels, said that her daughter was outside playing.
"She (is never) going to get over this," Daniels said. "She is going to think of this for the rest of her life."
The gunfight was a result of a neighbors' dispute over narcotics at the Liberty City Square housing complex, police said. Ayana's father said he owns a weapon for self-defense, because people kill each other every day in the neighborhood.
Rescue had to wear bullet proof vests, as they tried to get to the little girl. Miami police surrounded the area of Northwest 12th Avenue and 63rd Street, as they responded to reports that two men were shooting at each other.
The men shot at police officers during the gunfight, which witnesses said lasted about 6 minutes. Police negotiators got a gunman to surrender.
Another man, whom police said they believed to be heavily armed, remained barricaded. Police evacuated the building, 1251 NW 62nd St., as a SWAT team prepared to intervene.
Unaware of the identity of the second gunman, police decided to handcuff all of the residents of the building during the evacuation.
Despite the precautions, police officers were unable to catch the second gunman.
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Local 10 News staff Analia Fiestas, Andrea Torres and Dawn Brooks contributed to this report.
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