8-year-old girl shot in leg while playing outside

ATLANTA — As a little girl recovers in an Atlanta hospital room, police are searching for the gunman that opened fire, hitting the child in the leg.

Loreal Poy-Thress broke down in tears while showing Channel 2's Nefertiti Jaquez pictures of her 8-year-old daughter Jimaya, who is currently recovering Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston.

“I just keep telling her I'm so sorry this happened to you,” Poythress said, crying.

The mother told Jaquez she feels helpless because she doesn't have the answer just yet as to who shot her daughter.

Police say a man opened fire on a crowd and shot Jimaya, who was playing outside with her cousins and friends.

"She was bleeding real bad,” Poythress told Jaquez.

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It happened Wednesday around 8 p.m. along the 1400 block of Joseph E. Boone Blvd.

Poythress said they were visiting family when a man driving a blue Toyota sedan drove up and opened fire.

“It's not like he didn't say anything, he actually looked straight at us. And he just started shooting,” Poythress said.

Police say the gunman pulled the trigger twice, hitting Jimaya in the leg. Screaming in pain, she dropped to the ground. The gunman hit the gas.

“To me he's a coward,” Poythress told Jaquez.

A coward, she said, for shooting in an open area filled with little kids. Now she's hoping he will watch this story and do the right thing.

“He needs to turn himself in,” Poythress said.

Police said they have interviewed the woman who was the alleged target in all of this. She's given them a name.

Detectives are currently working around the clock looking for that man.

Cox Media Group