Philadelphia police reported that the shocking shooting of a 7-month-old baby captured on camera was the result of a mere $100 drug debt.
Dominique Billips, 28, was apprehended a day after a video showed a woman firing at the infant and his parents outside a residence, yelling, “F—k your baby, bitch!” while the teenage mother screamed in terror.
“Sometimes the things we see are mind-boggling,” stated Lt. Dennis Rosenbaum during a press conference, as reported by USA Today.
“You knew they had a stroller, what makes you walk up to someone with a stroller and shoot them?” Rosenbaum questioned the motive behind the “very disturbing” attack.
When officers arrived to investigate the shooting on Thursday, the victims had already left.
It was only when the family arrived at a local hospital that officers discovered a baby had been shot in the leg, with the violent act believed to have been triggered by a $100 “narcotics debt,” according to the police spokesperson.
“The mother and father… left the location because of fear from police due to outstanding warrants,” Rosenbaum explained.
The baby’s father was allegedly the intended target of the shooter, with the mother and baby inadvertently caught up in the incident, Rosenbaum added.
“You see in that video, she really points the gun at the mother of the baby, who’s also a juvenile, and fires. Luckily, she missed,” Rosenbaum described.
“A 7-month-old baby isn’t going to remember that, but it’s always going to be out there. That story’s always going to be out there,” Rosenbaum remarked regarding the baby, who has since been discharged from the hospital.
Billips, who was identified as a previous shooting victim, was arrested without incident on Friday and charged with aggravated assault and firearm offenses.
