6-year-old girl shot by stray bullet after security guard allegedly fires 10 rounds at theft suspect
A 6-year-old girl has taken her first steps after doctors had to remove a stray bullet that was lodged in her leg.
Houston news station ABC13 reports that Claire Tidwell was sitting in her family’s car with her father, Danny Tidwell, at a McDonald’s drive-thru in Houston, when the little girl’s right leg was grazed by a bullet, followed by a second bullet that wounded her left leg.
Christopher Bradley, a 28-year-old armed security guard stationed at a nearby T-Mobile store, was attempting to stop a suspected thief at the store. Police report that the commissioned security officer allegedly fired 10 shots in total, including ones that struck the little girl and one that hit the suspect, who was allegedly trying to steal a cellphone.
Bradley is being held in Houston Police Department’s jail on a charge of aggravated assault.
His mother, Sherhonda Bradley, said that her heart is breaking for the Tidwells and that her son often talked about the crime and danger he felt on the job.
“[Claire’s] OK. She’s stable,” Danny Tidwell told the news outlet. “There was gunshots. We were sitting in the car, ordering food. All of a sudden, gunshots started going off everywhere. It was so loud that we knew it was close. It was so close that we ducked in the seat, because we couldn’t tell where it was coming from. As the shots were going off, my daughter said, ‘Daddy, I’m hurt.’ I turned around and there was blood everywhere.”
“When she saw I was about to lose it as I struggled to stop the bleeding, she tried to reassure me: ‘Daddy, I’m OK. I’m going to be fine.'”
The family has set up a GoFundMe to help Claire with her medical treatment and recovery. On the fundraising page, the dad wrote: “Claire has shown more courage and strength than any 6-year-old you could imagine.”
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