A 7-year-old Birmingham boy remains in serious condition after he and his brother were wounded in a drive-by shooting while leaving youth football practice.
The gunfire erupted shortly before 8:15 p.m. Tuesday in the 1400 block of Birmingham’s busy Third Avenue West.
Kam Pritchett, 7, was shot in the face. His brother, 9-year-old King, was shot in the leg. Another brother, Kodi, escaped injury.
Kam’s injuries are life-threatening. He and King both attend Sun Valley Elementary School.
Their mother was not injured but an adult male in the vehicle was shot and sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
“It’s terrible,’’ said Carolyn Patterson, the boys’ great grandmother.
Patterson said the family had just left football practice in Midfield. They were on their way to the hospital because King had injured his wrist in practice.
When they pulled up to a traffic light, someone in another vehicle opened fire on the family’s SUV.
Birmingham’s Shot Spotter registered about 20 rounds fired. The SUV was hit at least a dozen times on the passenger’s side.
Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service transported the man to UAB Hospital. Both boys were taken to Children’s of Alabama.
Patterson said Kam is stable and could undergo surgery today.
“I’m sick of the violence,’’ Patterson said. “They need to put these guns down and realize these are kids and families. How would they feel if somebody did this to their family?”
Patterson said she was getting ready for bed when she received the phone call about the shooting.
“It’s just sickening,’’ she said.
No arrests have been made.
Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.
