GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A man is facing felony charges after police say he shot two young children with a BB gun for running through his yard in a Gwinnett County neighborhood.
The incident happened last Monday on Margate Court near Lawrenceville, just after the children got off the school bus. The victims are just 6 and 7 years old.
“One of the boys…was bleeding, and another one, they have marks from the neck,” said Zulma Navarrete, a neighbor and mother.
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Police arrested 48-year-old Shihchen Chou, who they say became angry when the children cut through his yard around 3 p.m.
Investigators told Channel 2 Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson that Chou fired a BB gun, hitting one child in the back of the head and another near the neck.
“The scare…I feel awful because I can’t believe it,” said Estefani Gonzalez, the mother of the two victims, speaking in Spanish.
Officers arrived to find the children injured. Neighbors say they watched the arrest unfold. Thankfully, the children will be okay.
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“When the police ask him, they say he say, it’s a play with the kids. But it’s not a play,” Navarrete said.
Chou is in jail, charged with felony cruelty to children along with aggravated assault and two counts of battery. A judge denied him bond and labeled him a danger to the community.
“Now I’m feeling okay, because he’s in the jail,” Navarrete said.
Parents in the neighborhood remain uneasy.
“If he’s free—I don’t know what happens the next time,” Navarrete said.
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