PORT ARTHUR, Texas — A community activist and the mayor of Port Arthur are calling for an end to violence after a 4-year-old boy was shot during a drive-by shooting.
The boy was injured while he was sleeping inside a home in the 5600 block of Grant Avenue. The bullet hit him in the back, and the boy was rushed to the hospital. He's expected to make a full recovery.
Community activist Hilton Kelley hopes this latest shooting will wake-up the community.
"This should not become the new norm, where you pick up a newspaper and read about a 4-year-old shot in his back in their home," Kelley said. "That could have been my child, that could have been your child, that could have been my grand-baby and we have to stop this kind of activity in this community."
Port Arthur Mayor Thurman Bartie spent time Thursday meeting with the victim's family. He's calling on the folks in the community to speak up about the recent violence.
"Citizens have to be vigilant; they see the criminal activity; they know who the criminals are. They've got to inform us, when I say 'us,' I mean they've got to inform the authorities," Bartie said.
Not only does he believe that folks in the community should speak up, but he is also telling the suspect or suspects to turn themselves in.
"I wish that they would be man enough to turn themselves in," Bartie said. "You know you did it, come forward, be man enough. You were man enough to do it so be man enough to own up to it and say I did it man and say I'm ready to take whatever is coming to me."
Contact Port Arthur Police Department at (409)-983-8600 or Southeast Texas Crime Stoppers at 833-TIPS if you have any information about the crime.