A 12-year-old boy playing in his St. Paul home was struck and wounded by a stray bullet over Saturday that pierced the house from outside, police say.

An officer used a tourniquet to control the boy’s bleeding after he was shot in the knee, and he was taken to the hospital with a non-life threatening injury, police said Monday.

Police determined an altercation took place in the parking lot of a nearby business in Dayton’s Bluff on Saturday afternoon and someone fired a gun, said Sgt. Mike Ernster, a police spokesman. No one has been arrested.

“Gun violence continues to be our department’s No. 1 priority,” Police Chief Todd Axtell said Monday. “This tragic incident is a reminder as to why it’s so important that we work with our community to prevent these senseless crimes.”

Police received a report at about 6:40 p.m. Saturday of people arguing in the parking lot of Twins Market & Meats at Fourth and Earl streets. Immediately afterward came gunshots, Ernster said.

At a residence across the street and slightly down the block, a bullet traveled through more than one wall before striking the boy.

Other children playing with the boy at the time of the incident told adults in the home he was injured. They heard a loud noise, but didn’t know what occurred.

“It just suddenly happened,” Ernster said.