3-year-old girl shot in Santa Ana expected to survive, officials say

SANTA ANA, Calif. - A 3-year-old girl continues to recover at the hospital after being shot in Santa Ana on Sunday night, authorities said. 

Officials with the Santa Ana Police Department said she was in the backseat of her family's car on Main Street, between 15th and 17th streets, when she was struck around 8 p.m. 

After the shooting, her parents rushed her to the Children’s Hospital of Orange County where she continues to be treated. Health officials said she has undergone multiple surgeries and is expected to survive.

Video from the scene shows investigators put crime tape around the family’s vehicle outside the entrance to the hospital after learning she had been struck by gunfire, adding the vehicle had bullet holes in the back of the sedan.

Police put crime tape around a vehicle outside Children's Hospital of Orange County after learning a 3-year-old girl had been shot. (ONSCENE.TV)

Detectives also recovered shell casings at the scene of the shooting. Investigators said Monday they believe the shooting was gang-related and that the driver, the boyfriend of the victim's mother, was the intended target. 

According to police, two bullets struck the white Nissan Altima, and one of them "traveled through the trunk, into the passenger compartment," striking the 3-year-old girl. A 4-year-old girl was also in the backseat but was uninjured, police said.

"Both adults were interviewed and cooperated with detectives," according to a police statement. "Neither have been arrested."

All north and southbound lanes on Main Street from 15th Street to 17th streets were closed for hours during the early stages of the investigation. The lanes have since reopened. 

Anyone with information was asked to call homicide detectives at 714-245-8390 or Orange County Crime Stoppers at 1-855-847-6227.

City News Service contributed to this report.