A juvenile girl was shot in the face over the weekend after a boy from Carbon County brought a handgun to a hangout in an Allentown bedroom, investigators say.
The boy accused of possessing the .380-caliber semiautomatic pistol and the girl accused of pulling the trigger both face charges, authorities said in a news release Monday.
The victim was stabilized at the hospital but remained in critical condition, Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan and Allentown police Chief Charles Roca said in the release.
Police responded shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday to a shooting in the 100 block of Pine Street, where officers found the victim with a gunshot wound to the face. She was taken to an area hospital as police investigated.
Witnesses described several juveniles hanging out in a bedroom, with one male in possession of the handgun in a fanny pack, authorities said.
Several of the teens asked if they could see the gun, and the juvenile male racked the slide and removed the magazine, police and the prosecutor said.
“He then told the others that there was not a round in the chamber and gave the gun to one of the female juveniles,” the release states. “That female juvenile pointed the handgun, equipped with a laser sight, around the room when she pulled the trigger and hit the victim in the face.”
Most of the teens fled, and the male juvenile who had the gun in his fanny pack picked it up and also fled, according to the release: “He threatened the female juvenile who fired the gun not to speak to police or she would be beaten. One of the teens remained, called 911 and rendered aid to the victim until police arrived.”
Police charged the juvenile male, who is from Lansford, with intimidation of witnesses or victims, firearms not to be carried without a license, possession of a firearm by a minor, tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, and five counts of recklessly endangering another person.
The female juvenile suspect, of Allentown, is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a firearm by a minor and reckless endangerment.
Authorities were not immediately identifying anyone involved.
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Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
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