Local

Police: Girl shot by stray bullet while in bed

ATLANTA — An 8-year-old girl is recovering in the hospital after she was struck by a stray bullet while in bed inside her northwest Atlanta apartment.

Police said the girl was shot late Monday night at the Shawnee Apartments on Gun Club Drive. She is being treated at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston for a gunshot wound to her leg.

Police said they found several shell casings from an assault rifle scattered in the parking lot of the apartment complex. An altercation between a couple of people ended in gunfire, and a round pierced through an upstairs unit, police said.

"Entered through one of the apartments and through the wall where it struck a child in the leg," Atlanta Police Department Capt. Tim Peek said.

Medics rushed the girl to the hospital, where she was alert and talking.

No one else inside the apartment was injured.

Investigators said they have interviewed a number of witnesses and they have some strong leads in the case.