Teen Girl Who Was Shot After Firing at Rival Gang Members Is Recovering

The young gang-banger had been listed in "extremely critical condition" after the shootout in Phoenix.

May 18, 2018

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A 15-year-old girl who was shot in Phoenix last month after a suspected gang fight is back in the hospital as cops continue to search for a suspect.

The young gang-banger, whose name hasn't been released, was listed in "extremely critical condition" after the shootout, which began about 4:45 p.m. on April 19 in or near El Oso Park in west Phoenix.

"She had shot at a rival gang member after a friend of hers lost a fight to someone in that gang," Sergeant Alan Pfohl told Phoenix New Times on Thursday.

A week after being shot, Pfohl said the girl was still in critical condition. However, soon after that she was released from the hospital, but then had to check in again with complications from her surgery. "She's going to survive her injuries, but she's got a long road ahead," Pfohl said.

After firing the shots while riding in a Jeep Cherokee, the girl and her buddies raced from the scene. The rival gang members jumped in their own vehicle and gave chase through the neighborhood. They quickly caught up to the Jeep and rammed it. Someone fired into the Jeep, injuring the 15-year-old. The Jeep then backed up and crashed into a school bus for the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind. Three people were on the bus; no one was hurt.

Pfohl said he couldn't comment about possible criminal charges against the girl. Meanwhile, police are "working leads" to find the person who shot the girl, he said. It's a sensitive investigation and police don't want to release any more information about the case, he added.

It's not typical for a teen girls to be shooting at rival gang members in Phoenix these days. Pfohl said he feels that violent acts by young girls that are usually perpetrated by boys or men may be on the rise in Phoenix, but he had no stats to confirm it.

In October, authorities say, a 15-year-old Tonopah girl conspired with her 21-year-old boyfriend to kill her grandfather, who had adopted her. The girl and the boyfriend have both been charged with first-degree murder.

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Ray Stern is the former news editor of Phoenix New Times. He worked as a newspaper reporter in Arizona for more than two decades. He's won numerous awards for his reporting, including the Arizona Press Club's Don Bolles Award for Investigative Journalism.