TOLEDO, OH (Toledo News Now) - A 1-year-old girl died Friday morning after she and her sister were shot in central Toledo Thursday night. The 2-year-old sister remains in serious condition.
The shooting happened just after 11 p.m. at the Moody Manor apartments in the 2200 block of Kent Street in central Toledo.
The children's great grandmother says she was babysitting the girls when bullets shattered a glass door. More than 12 shots were fired through the door. The grandmother says 1-year-old Keondra Hooks was hit once in the head and 2-year-old Leondra Hooks was hit once from behind in the upper body.
In a news conference, Toledo Police Chief Derrick Diggs said that based on information in the investigation, he does not believe this was a random attack. He did not disclose details as to why he believes that due to the active investigation. Diggs did say the apartment has not been targeted before, but the apartment complex has been a hotspot for crime.
The chief confirmed two unknown suspects fired several shots into the apartment through the rear sliding patio door. He said the little girls were sleeping on the floor in the living room. Also in the house were three adults and one other infant. No one else was injured.
After the shooting, the two suspects fled through the surrounding yards, Diggs said. The complex is under private video surveillance, but it is not yet known if video of the crime was captured.
Even before Thursday night's shooting, the Moody Manor apartment complex was no stranger to violence. Police say it was already a target for them, with the TPD gang unit, crime suppression task force and street patrols conducting regular patrols at the complex.
On Easter Sunday 2010 a man was killed after a fight at the complex. On October 15, 2010 one person was shot and anther stabbed after a fight at Moody Mannor and on July 5, 2011 a woman was shot in the back there while watching fireworks.
"The Moody Manor, along with a lot of other housing complexes that we have in the city are a lot of times low income, subsidized housing and sometimes come with some troubles," said Toledo Police Sergeant Joe Heffernan.
Even with the extra effort being made by police, Heffernan says tips from community members are key in solving crimes like this.
"We're only as good as the information that we have, but we are trying to focus our law enforcement efforts in a way where hopefully we can prevent anything like this ever happening ever again. I sure wish we would have been there to prevent or stop that from happening but we weren't. I am confident that we will make an arrest," said Heffernan.
Chief Diggs is confident Toledo Police will find those responsible.
"We're gonna bring you to justice. We're coming after you. We're gonna find you and we're gonna throw you in jail," said Diggs.
Diggs says he has assigned a large number of investigators to bring the perpetrators to justice. They are following leads right now. Anyone with information on the shooting is urged to call CrimeStopper at 419-255-1111.
