Three-year-old girl fatally shot in Washington DC

 A toddler was killed in an “exchange of gunfire” while she was inside a car in Southeast Washington, DC, police say.

The shooting occurred around 9pm on Friday night, police said.

Preliminary investigations show that the little girl was caught in an “exchange of gunfire” and is not believed to be the “intended target,” Metropolitan Police Department Commander LaShay Makal said at a press conference.

The three-year-old has been identified as Ty’ah Settles.

She is believed to have been with a family member in the vehicle, Ms Makal said.

The number of suspects involved is not immediately clear. No suspects have been identified, nor has a motive.

The police station is right around the corner from where the shooting occurred, so police were able to “immediately” respond to the scene and perform “life-saving measures,” the commander said.

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style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Indy Serif", "Indy Serif Fallback", serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 1.44em; margin: 16px 0px;">Settles was taken to a hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.

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style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Indy Serif", "Indy Serif Fallback", serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 1.44em; margin: 16px 0px;">Police said they found “multiple shell casings” between the 2200 and 2400 blocks of Hartford Street, SE.

The investigation is ongoing. The Independent has contacted police for more information.

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style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Indy Serif", "Indy Serif Fallback", serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 1.44em; margin: 16px 0px;">DC council member Trayon White Sr visited the tragic scene, telling the Washington Post: “Anytime a baby gets shot, man, somebody needs to be brought to justice.

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style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Indy Serif", "Indy Serif Fallback", serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 1.44em; margin: 16px 0px;">He added, “It’s intolerable that we allow this to happen in our community over and over again.”

The police commander echoed this sentiment.

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style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Indy Serif", "Indy Serif Fallback", serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 1.44em; margin: 16px 0px;">“This is an absolute tragedy. It’s unacceptable. A three-year-old little girl lost her life today,” Ms Makal said at the press conference, before urging the public to reach out with information.