According to the Durham Police Department, officers responded to a shooting around 1:47 p.m. in the 3000 block of East Weaver Street near East Cornwallis Road.
When officers arrived at the home, they found a 4-year-old child who had been shot. The child was taken to the hospital and remains in critical condition, according to police.
Police arrested the child’s mother, 24-year-old Vintasia Sowell, and charged her with felony child abuse and assault with a deadly weapon.
The arrest warrant said the child was shot with a .223 rifle.
According to the arrest warrant, Sowell “did cause a rifle to be fired, resulting in [the child] being struck on her left side damaging her spleen, liver, kidney and stomach.”
“The physical injury was inflicted by other than accidental means,” the arrest warrant stated.
Sowell was given a $50,000 bond; she made bail and bonded out around midnight, according to court documents. Sowell is scheduled to appear in court Monday at 9 a.m.
Police said the investigation is going and asked anyone with information to contact investigators at 919-560-4440 ext. 29252
