ST. LOUIS — Children and teens continue to become victims of gun violence in the City of St. Louis.
Since Jan. 1, at least 57 children under the age of 17 have been shot — 10 of them, fatally, according to data collected by 5 On Your Side.
Just on Wednesday afternoon, two teens were shot and another suffered a graze wound in three separate shootings.
Around 1:30 p.m., a 13-year-old boy arrived at an area hospital with a gunshot wound to his leg. According to the police report, he was conscious and breathing.
About two hours later, a teenager was shot during a drive-by along the edge of the Greater Ville neighborhood. The shots came from a blue sedan, according to the police report. The teenager was conscious and breathing when he was transported to a hospital.
"It's horrible. I came home, saw all the police lights and didn't know what was going on," said a concerned mom who lives down the street. "When I was younger, we never had to worry about that kind of thing, so that just hurts me deeply."
Around 8:25 p.m., a teenager suffered a graze wound to his back while he was in car, but police said he refused medical attention at the scene.
On Tuesday, a man told police he was sitting on his porch when his gun fell out of his pocked, went off and struck a 7-year-old girl in her foot. He was arrested at the scene.
"When you own a gun, you're supposed to store it away properly in a safe space especially away from children." said Michaela Taylor, a youth counselor at the nonprofit group, Saint Louis Story Stitchers.
In 2019, there were 14 children who were fatally shot in the City of St. Louis.
"It's a very big concern on a micro-level, on a community level. This should not be our reality. This should not be something we become normalized to," Taylor said.
Earlier this week, Today in St. Louis' Allie Corey talked with Dr. Lindsay Clukies, and ER doctor at St. Louis Children's Hospital.
Dr. Clukies said the emergency room saw more children with gunshot wounds in May of this year than it has seen in any month in the hospital's 140-year history.
"We saw more firearm-related injuries with children than in any month in our history,” Clukies said.
She said the gunshot wounds they see are from both accidental and intentional shootings.
Clukies explained that at St. Louis Children's Hospital, doctors see more firearm-related injuries than most other hospitals in the country.
‘CUT SHORT: Unsolved Killings of St. Louis Children’ is an initiative of KSDK 5 On Your Side and its community outreach program, ‘Project 5,’ to raise awareness of the unchecked violence against children in the city of St. Louis from the summer of 2019 to present.
We’re dedicated to telling their stories, following the criminal investigations and shining a light on the reasons for gun violence in our city. We won’t let up.
Please join us in this important campaign seeking justice for our youth by sharing these stories about their young lives cut short, reaching out to elected officials and supporting the worthy organizations in St. Louis working to make our city’s neighborhoods safer places to raise families.
Editor's note: This report included an incorrect number of children 17 and under shot in St. Louis in 2020. It has been revised to reflect the correct total as of the date of initial publication.