An 11-year-old girl has been tragically killed by a stray bullet while walking home from school with a friend in broad daylight.
On Monday shortly before 5pm local time, two gunmen were riding through the Bronx in New York, US, on a moped when the man riding on the back suddenly opened fire.
The two men, both clad in dark-coloured sweatshirts, immediately fled from the scene of the shooting, heading northwards on Fox Street.
Police sources told NBC News that Tay was not the intended target but was sadly caught in the crossfire from a block away.
The young girl was struck by a bullet in the stomach and then rushed to Lincoln Hospital around two miles away, where she died surrounded by family members.
Witness Maya Jones told NBC that Kyhara "just kept saying 'ow, ow, ow' and holding her stomach".
Jones said they were trying to figure out where she got shot at, checking different parts of the body as she kept holding different places in pain, but suddenly she stopped responding.
He continued: "When I heard her age I broke down, because it's like, she just came from school, and it's like, why her? Why does it have to be her? Why are y'all doing this?"
She describes being traumatised at the thought of Kyhara's future being ripped away and how it could have been anyone who was shot.
Their target was reportedly another man they were chasing near Westchester Avenue and Fox Street in the Bronx's Foxhurst neighbourhood, New York police have said.
But as a result of their reckless gunfire, Kyhara was hit instead.
“She was right next to me when it happened,” the young girl's friend told the New York Post. She also describes her holding her stomach and writhing in pain.
Kyhara tried to get away from the gunfire and ran into a nearby nail salon, New Kim Nails.
Jones describes applying pressure to the girl's wound before turning blue from the blood loss and eventually passing out.
This is the second instance this year that a young child has been shot in the Bronx. In January, an 11-month-old girl was shot in the face while sitting in a car with her mother.
The baby is now recovering at home after nearly four months of rehabilitation in hospital after having to relearn how to eat and walk.
Deputy Police Chief Timothy McCormack said at a press briefing following the shooting: "This is the second child that's shot in this borough this year - an 11-month-old and now an 11-year-old. This is very difficult for us to accept. We will chase the scooter as far as it goes."
New York Police Department Crime Stoppers posted a video of the shooting on Twitter and urged anyone with information about the suspects to call the police.
