4-YEAR-OLD GIRL HIT BY GUNFIRE IN SOUTH PHILA.

The latest shooting victim in Philadelphia is a little girl too young
to truly appreciate what a gun is.

Police said the girl, 4, whose name was not released, was wounded in a
shoot-out around 7:15 p.m. on the 2100 block of Sigel Street in South
Philadelphia - a narrow street just south of Point Breeze that
neighbors said is often saturated with youngsters playing outdoors.

The child was in critical condition last night at Children's Hospital
of Philadelphia with a gunshot wound to her left femur.

"What threshold do we have to hit before people start to realize how
serious this is?" asked an outraged Capt. Kevin Bethel of the 17th
Police District.

Bethel said the shooting was reported after the girl collapsed in the
street in front of a rowhouse where she and her mother had been
visiting. At the time, the girl - identified by neighbors as Nashay
Little - was outside playing with other children.

Once police arrived, they picked her up from the street and rushed her
to Children's Hospital, along with her mother.

Bethel said that he was unsure how many people participated in the
shooting. Police said at least two men were seen running east on
Sigel, apparently chasing someone and shooting at him. That person
fired back, police said. The girl was hit by a stray bullet.

Neighbors last night stood outside or on their steps, looked at the
crime-scene tape, and expressed anger that someone would open fire on
a block full of children.

"They should have known better than to shoot on this block with all
these kids," Audrey Myers said.

Myers said she was in her house when the shots rang out and ran to her
kitchen when she heard the noise.

"One shot is too many, but there were a lot more," she
said.

Just before nightfall, one of the girl's shoes still lay in the middle
of the street, along with several dozen shell casings being examined
by police.

Bethel said that, as has been customary in most shooting crimes,
witnesses have been tight-lipped in identifying the suspects.

He said he believed the shooters were seen because the block was full
of people and it was still light.

Bethel said he hoped someone would come forward to identify the
shooters and asked anyone with information to call police at the 17th
District at 215-686-3013.