4 Shootings in 24 Hours leave 3 y/o dead and several wounded in SB

SAN BERNARDINO - Police Chief Keith Kilmer vowed Tuesday morning to catch the gunman who killed a 3-year-old girl and wounded another child and a pregnant woman.

He called the attack "tragic, senseless and despicable."

Police said the shooting stemmed from an earlier incident nearby in which a woman was being assaulted by a man.

Another man intervened, allowing the woman to escape.

Police suspect the shooting - in the 1300 block of D Street - was an act of revenge against the man who intervened.

Kilmer demanded that the gunman turn himself in.

"We are going to be relentless in this particular incident," Kilmer said.

Nylah Irene Franco-Torrez, 3, was hit in the head by bullets fired at 7:40 p.m. She died at a hospital.

Another 3-year-old girl was shot in the head but survived.

She was reported in extremely critical condition at Loma Linda University Medical Center.

La-Donna Howie, 22, the mother of the surviving child, suffered a gunshot to her neck and jaw. She was taken to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton.

She is five months pregnant. Her condition was reported to be stable Tuesday evening.

Neighbors and family members of Nylah gathered Tuesday morning, placing a stuffed gray elephant, a pink bear, flowers and candles at the edge of the front yard of the home, where a memorial had been established.

Sophia Cardona, the girl's great-grandmother, described Nylah as a "sweet little girl" who liked watching cartoons, especially "Avatar."

Cardona called the shooting "cowardly."

Cardona said Howie is her granddaughter and identified Howie's daughter by the name Justine but didn't provide a last name. Police say about 12 people live at the home.

The morning after a child was killed in one of three shootings in the city, police rushed to a fourth shooting early Tuesday.

"(The shooter) wanted to hurt someone, but he didn't need to hurt these children," Cardona said.

Howie's sister, Destiny Hull, 13, used a mop to clean up the large amount of blood left on the family's front porch while Cardona spoke to reporters. Destiny paused every few minutes to cry.

She later placed a baby doll alongside the candles and stuffed animals. She said it was Nylah's.

Neighbors stood across the street, expressing shock at the level of violence that occurred on their street.

Tyrell Jones said his sister called him outside after the shots rang out Monday night.

"Everybody was screaming, running around and police were everywhere," said Tyrell Jones. "It's just a sad situation."

Police officers responding to the D Street shooting initially warned dispatchers that an unruly crowd had gathered near the house.

The scene quieted, however, after several minutes and neighbors who gathered outside the police tape did not bother the detectives and crime-scene investigators who searched the house and yard for evidence.

Basic details about the deadly shooting spread around the neighborhood before police provided confirmation.

People who gathered to watch the investigators had varying versions of what happened but agreed that the victims included children and that whoever committed the crime fired several shots.

"Whoever had the gun, they unloaded it," said Herbert Bryant, 48. "I was sitting in the living room, and I thought I heard fireworks."

More and more people assembled near the police tape in the hours after the shooting. A group of men who said they came from The Way World Outreach men's shelter arrived, and one of them, Leonard Valdez, invited bystanders to pray.

Some rebuffed the offer, including a young man who responded, "I got no religion," but others joined hands in a circle with Valdez, who began an emphatic prayer for peace in the city.

"We just pray for healing. We ask you for healing," Valdez called out.

Others stood outside the circle and prayed silently, and at least one young woman simply wept. After the prayer, Valdez said the neighborhood is afflicted with crime.

"The drug activity. The violence is here. It takes something like this to wake us up," Valdez said.

The shooting was one of four that occurred in less than 12 hours in San Bernardino.

A shooting occurred at 5:59 p.m. in the 100 block of East Olive Street. The victim, a man, was in critical condition and not expected to survive, authorities said.

A pedestrian was shot in the upper body at 5:51 p.m. near Foothill Boulevard and Meridian Avenue. He was expected to live.

Police rushed to a fourth shooting at 5:15 a.m. Tuesday on Highland Avenue near Perris Hill Park where a woman was shot in the face. Her wound was not considered life-threatening, Lt. Gwen Waters said.

Mayor Pat Morris called the shootings an explosion after what had been a peaceful summer. The city had no homicides for 61 days.

"We ask for the citizens in our fine city to step forward as they have done in the past," Morris said.

Anyone with information can call police at 909-384-5742.

Staff writer Andrew Edwards contributed to this report.

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Lunar shit. Full Moon. They caught o'l boy who killed that young beautiful toddler yesterday. The fool was down the street from where it happened. SMH literally down the street. Well, he can piss his life goodbye over some stupid shit. RIP that poor little girl and her family and the other young victim who's still in survival mode at the hospital. This is some stupid shit and niggaz need to have more respect and logic. Thugs are thugs, idiots are idiots. And ain't nothing thuggin' about killin' innocent kids

They just had another shooting tuesday a woman was shot in her face at 5:40am she's expected to live. That other shooting happened right in 5X's hood on foothill and meridian.

RIP

MZWEBBZ wrote: i want to thank all the people that have been there for us for all the help ,donations and prayers i am nylahs grand mother and she was a very very special little girl she was our baby and we are never gonna stop feeling the pain that we feel.

Very sorry for your loss. I will keep you in prayer.