3-year-old girl shot while in car in Santa Ana

Police are searching for a suspect in a gang-related shooting that left a 3-year-old girl critically injured Sunday in Santa Ana while riding in the back seat of her parents’ car, police said.

See update: Toddler was shot as she rode in car’s back seat. Santa Ana man now under arrest

Police investigators said they believe the intended target was the girl’s father, who was sitting in the front passenger’s seat.

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“This was an act of senseless gun violence where an innocent child was shot and we are requesting the public’s assistance,” the Santa Ana Police Department said in a statement.

Police officers found two bullet holes in the parents’ white sedan, Officer Natalie Garcia said. One of the shots, police said in a statement, pierced the trunk of the car, went through the passenger compartment and hit the 3-year-old.

The family was driving near the intersection of 15th Street and Spurgeon Street when the vehicle was struck by gunfire, Garcia said.

The parents were seated in the front of the car, Garcia said. Also in the back seat was a 4-year-old, who was not injured.

The parents continued to drive for some time, unaware that the 3-year-old had been shot until they realized the girl was wounded and gasping for air, Garcia said.

The parents drove the child directly to Children’s Hospital of Orange County, where police were contacted.

The 3-year-old underwent multiple surgeries overnight and is expected to survive, Garcia said. On Monday morning, she was in critical but stable condition.

Homicide detectives are reviewing surveillance video near the location of the incident, she said.

The parents have been interviewed by police and are cooperating with detectives, according to police.

Officers canvassed the area and found shell casings along 15th Street just east of Spurgeon Street, she said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Santa Ana Police Department homicide detectives at (714) 245-8390.