Drive-by shooting wounds boy, 12

Police probe incident in Alief area for ties to gang-related activity

A 12-year-old boy chatting on the phone was shot in the chest Sunday night in an Alief-area drive-by that police are probing for gang ties.

The preteen was walking down Pine Knoll near Leawood just before midnight when a car pulled out and someone stuck a gun out the window, authorities said.

The gunman fired one time and hit the boy in the chest. The shot missed major organs, so the boy survived and was still alert when first responders rushed him to the hospital in stable condition.

The suspect fled and police did not immediately offer a description of the shooter or the vehicle. Authorities are looking into the possibility that the shooting was gang-related, though neighbors said it was a quiet area not prone to violence.

The gunfire comes on the heels of a string of child shootings. In late May, a 2-year-old boy landed in the hospital after he was shot — apparently accidentally — in southeast Houston.

A week earlier, 3-year-old Sir Romeo Milam was hit by a stray bullet in Sunnyside, an outburst of violence that sparked reactions from the community and local officials.

“How many more little kids are going to be shot?” the boy’s grandmother, Loriann Milam, said afterward. “Kids should be able to be in their own home and be comfortable and not worry about jumping on the ground like they’re in Beirut.”

In March, angered by the gun deaths of 11 children in the preceding 16 months, Police Chief Art Acevedo vowed to crack down on city gang members and team up with prosecutors to aggressively pursue gun violators.

Many of the cases remain unsolved, prompting Acevedo to plead that the Houston community find the “collective courage to stand up” and put an end to the violence.