PICTURED: Girl, 12, dies after she was shot in the head in drive-by shooting in Connecticut

PUBLISHEDFri Apr 21 2023 13:03 GMT

UPDATEDFri Apr 21 2023 19:39 GMT

A 12-year-old girl has died after being shot in the head during a drive-by shooting in Connecticut that left three others injured.

Secret Pierce, 12, of Hartford, was pronounced dead at 7am on Friday after she was shot in the head multiple times in a shooting that occurred on Huntington Street in the city around 9pm on Thursday.

Hartford Police said the girl was while inside a parked car and was found 'unresponsive.' She was transported to St. Francis Hospital in life-threatening condition last night.

Police do not believe she was the intended target and that she 'likely had nothing to do with it.' Police told WFSB that they believe the three other men, ages 16 to 23, know who shot Pierce. Authorities are investigating this as a targeted attack.

Pierce's school remembered her as 'beautiful and capable' and several family members took to Facebook to say they would 'miss' her.

Secret Pierce, 12, of Hartford, was pronounced dead at 7am on Friday after she was shot in the head multiple times in a shooting that occurred on Huntington Street in the city around 9pm on Thursday

Police do not believe she was the intended target and that she 'likely had nothing to do with it.' Police said they believe the three other men, ages 16 to 23, know who shot Pierce

Her death comes as a various strings of shootings involving children have happened this week.

Three others were found shot on the sidewalk on Huntington Street. An 18-year-old male was found with 'serious injuries' in close proximity to the car near the girl.

Two of the victims, both male, 16 and 23, walked to St. Francis Hospital and sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

Boisvert said their wounds 'appear to be lacerations at this time.'

None of the victims have been publicly named. Police believe the three men were the targets of the shooting.

Hartford Police said the girl was while inside a parked car and was found 'unresponsive.' She was transported to St. Francis Hospital in life-threatening condition last night

Three others, between the ages of 16 and 23, were found shot on the sidewalk on Huntington Street. An 18-year-old male was found with 'serious injuries' in close proximity to the car near the little girl, according to police

DailyMail.com has reached out to the Hartford Police for comment.

The incident was caught on surveillance footage, which has not been publicly released, and police are working to determine the assailant's vehicle.

'We do have some video of a vehicle flying by and going North on Huntington Street when the gunfire erupted,' Boisvert said. 'We are actively working to decipher what vehicle that was so we can begin looking for it.'

Police are also trying to determine if gunfire had been returned by the three men.

Lieutenant Aaron Boisvert believes the little girl is innocent and that the three men were the intended targets

The shooting took place outside of 48 Huntington Street (pictured)

Boisvert said the girl was the 'youngest' victim in Hartford in 2023 and the girl's mother has been notified of her daughter's injuries.

'It's very tragic, very unfortunately, [it's] sickening,' the officer said.

Despite the tragic incidents, shootings are down 17 percent in Hartford, as well as murder, which is 60 percent less compared to the same time last year.

Most violent crime is down at least 30 percent in the city, except for rape and robbery with a firearm, which are up 64 and 23 percent, respectively.

Random shootings are on the rise in 2023

More and more people across the US have found themselves being victims in random shootings, from 12-year-old Secret Pierce, of Hartford, being shot dead in a drive-by shooting to six-year-old Kinsley White being shot in the cheek by her neighbor after her ball rolled into his year.

In April alone, several random shootings have already occurred.

DailyMail.com takes a look at these random shootings.

Ralph Yarl, 16

Yarl was shot by Andrew Lester, 84, after he approached his property in Kansas City, Missouri, thinking he was collecting his two younger brothers and rang the doorbell on April 13.

The incident happened after Yarl accidentally went to Northeast 115th Street instead of Northeast 115th Terrace - one block from one another - in the north of Kansas City.

Yarl approached the door but did not 'cross the threshold' into the house, according to prosecutors.

Lester was said to have opened the door and fired two .32-caliber rounds from a revolver that struck Yarl on the forehead and the arm. Prosecutors said there was no indication that any words were exchanged.

Lester told a police officer after the shooting that he saw a black man 'pulling on the exterior storm door handle,' and that he believed the person was attempting to break in.

Yarl has since been interviewed by a detective, and said that he only rang the doorbell and did not pull on the door.

Kinsley White, 6

Kinsley White and other neighborhood children were playing on their street on April 18 in Gaston County, North Carolina when her neighbor Robert Louis Singletary, 24, snapped over the stray ball.

Singletary allegedly got mad and began firing at White and her parents, both of whom also were struck or grazed by bullets.

Kinsley and her father, William White, were both injured in the shooting.

According to Kinsley's mom, at the time of the shooting, William was attempting to distract the neighbor so that other children could get away.

William was struck in the back by a bullet and remains in the hospital at this time.

Kinsley's mother told WSOC she was outside and said she heard Singletary make a threat to her family members.

'He looked at my husband and my daughter and told them, "I'm going to kill you," Ashley Hilderbrand said.

She said the neighbor then chased them while shooting.

He allegedly kept firing until his gun had run out of bullets.

He is currently on the run.

Secret Pierce, 12

Pierce was shot in the head during a drive-by shooting on April 20 while she was seated in the back of a car on Huntington Street in Hartford, Connecticut.

She was pronounced dead at 7am on April 21.

Three others were injured in the shooting, including an 18-year-old who sustained 'serious' injuries and was found outside the car near Pierce.

Two other men, 16 and 23, were shot as well on the sidewalk, but sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

Police believe Pierce was innocent and had nothing to do with the incident.

PICTURED: Girl, 12, dies after she was shot in the head in drive-by shooting in Connecticut

Random shootings are on the rise in 2023

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