A six-month-old child was shot and killed in a car after being caught in crossfire during a shootout in the street in the US, on Monday.
Atalanta police have said that the baby was hit during a shooting near a Food Mart on Anderson Avenue NW.
The child's mother told WSBTV that she was driving along when the shooting began between people in two cars and tragically one of the bullets hit her six-month-old.
The child was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital but medics were unable to save their life.
Police have now launched an investigation and are piecing together what took place.
Police Chief Rodney Bryant confirmed that the baby was a victim of "random gun violence"
"The Atalanta police is working very diligently, utilising our video integration centre, utilising our manpower to bring this case to a resolution. We will not stop, we will work throughout the night to find resolution for this mum," he told a press conference.
"This six month old was riding down the street and to become victim of gun violence, random gun violence between two people who can’t resolve a simple issue. Right now this case is still ongoing, we are still in the early stages of an investigation, our investigators are working leads right now and hopefully we will be bringing this case to resolution relatively soon."
He added: "The proliferation of weaponry that we see on these streets, we have to do something about this. We can no longer allow our criminals to carry guns."
Similarly the mayor, Andre Dickens, emphasised the problem of gun crime in Atlanta and that the police will "bring justice for this life".
He said: “Today we are here with the six-month-old that is deceased. These children are bearing the burden and the pain of adults who are choosing to use guns to resolve disputes.
"The children are bearing this burden with their lives and I am here to ask and demand that it stops right now."
It is the third shooting of a child aged under six in Atlanta so far in 2022 with two now having died, while in total there have been 12 murders so far this year in the city, said Mr Dickens.
He continued: "We are going to work day and night on this, as we have been doing, but this hurts, this is a six-month-old child that we have lost. So we have a lot of folks on the scene, we are going to solve this case, we are going to bring justice for this life."
