Prayer vigil for children shot on Scott Street

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - As the sun set on Friday, community leaders came out to pray for two children, both shot just the night before.

“We recognize as clergy leaders that prayers of comfort and those that believe in prayer know that it is the bedrock and foundation of our faith,” says Reverend Robert Gilmore with Ministers Against Violence.

Among the speakers, Bridget Gaston, the grandmother of the two children currently in the hospital.

Police say someone fired gunshots on a car in the parking lot of a nail salon in the 3900 block of Scott Street in southeast Houston. Inside the car were two children, an eight-year-old boy who was struck in the head and a five-year-old girl who suffered a wound to the leg.

City leaders are taking a stance and speaking about the incident.

"We do not condone any person who victimizes, shoots, and/or kills our kids...and we're not gonna start," says Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner. "This is not the new normal. This will not be the new normal in this city.” 

“I hope they hear what the mayor and chief have said because that ain’t going to happen in Houston!,"  says Houston City Council member Dwight Boykins.."We will put more police in a concentrated area to address this issue. It’s unfortunate that we are losing a generation of young men and women who are not taking advantage of opportunities this great city has and they want to take the criminal route and we are going to deal with that."

“Bring the programs, deal with the young men, create boys to become men, when the men stand up, our boys will sit back down and we’ll be back in control of our community and we will not be dealing with violence week after week, month after month, trying to explain and dealing with our own personal embarrassment and asking the question, why can’t we stop the killing?,” says Reginald Gordon with Ministers Against Crime/

Anyone with information about this case is encouraged to contact Crime Stoppers of Houston by phone at 713-222-8477 (TIPS).