LAKE CITY, Fla. – A 12-year-old girl died Thursday night after someone shot into her Lake City home, according to the Lake City Police Department.
Police said the girl was sitting on a couch when she was shot around 9 p.m. Officers and paramedics arrived at the house on Northwest Long Street and started life-saving measures, but the girl died at the house.
A family member spoke with News4JAX and described the 12-year-old as a sixth-grader who always smiled and loved to dance. They said what happened to her in that home — now marked up by evidence markers where bullets hit — is “unthinkable.”
“It’s just so sad,” an anonymous neighbor told News4JAX. “I feel for the family. Feel for the mom.”
The neighbor said crime in the area has been rising over the last few years — especially the shootings.
“Like, it happened to her. It could happen to me. That’s how I feel like that. It could happen to anybody. Bullets don’t have no name on them.”
Bullet holes and glass could be seen at the scene on Friday.
The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office and FDLE are helping with the investigation.
Anyone with information regarding the shooting is asked to contact the Lake City Police Department at (386) 752-4343 and speak with Investigator Sapp.