9-year-old boy killed, 2 wounded by man randomly shooting at cars

A 9-year-old boy was killed and at least two others were wounded on Monday night in Minnesota by a man who police say was randomly shooting at cars.

The Pioneer Pressreported that 34-year-old Nhan Lap Tran had been arrested and was being held on suspicion of murder after the shooting rampage in Oakdale.

A woman who asked not to be named said that she was driving home when a man walking in road the began riddling her car with bullets.

"He was just walking diagonally down the middle of the street. Then he turned toward me and just started firing," the woman said. "He was just walking, not even running... It was crazy."

A second woman managed to stop her car in the Rainbow store parking lot after the back window and rear tires of her mini van were shot. She was shot in the arm and her 9-year-old son was shot in the head. Initial reports indicated that the boy had been 10.

Oakdale Police Chief Bill Sullivan said that the boy later died at Regions Hospital in St. Paul. The mother was expected to recover from the wounds to her arm.

The suspect was also thought to have emptied six rounds into a 68-year-old woman's car, hitting both her finger and her leg. Her granddaughter told the Pioneer Press that the woman's finger had to be amputated by doctors at Regions Hospital.

Police reportedly recovered a handgun and at least a dozen casings at the scene.

"It's a horrible situation, and certainly lends itself to the concern they have about gun control, and all the other kinds of issues that are being addressed right now throughout the country," Chief Sullivan observed.

Oakdale Mayor Carmen Sarrack told the Star Tribune that the shootings were "sick."

"What can you say when a [9-year-old] is killed. ... You just feel so bad for the family. They were just out driving by on a February night. It's just a shame. People here are devastated that this could happen in our city, especially when the nation is grappling with gun control."

Watch this video from KARE, broadcast Feb. 11, 2013.

Watch this video from KMSP, broadcast Feb. 11, 2013.

KMSP-TV