A crowd of nearly 100 people gathered near the site of a shooting in north Minneapolis on Friday that claimed the life of a 2-year old boy and put a 15-month-old girl in the hospital.

The gunfire happened near the intersection of Penn and Lowry avenues north at around 11:30 a.m. The kids were taken to North Memorial Medical Center, about six blocks away. The young girl had non-life-threatening injuries.

Minneapolis police say the fatal shots were fired during an exchange of gunfire. A police spokesman says it appears the parties knew each other.

No suspects are in custody. Authorities said eight investigators are working the case.

On Friday afternoon, a group of pastors took turns praying over the dead child's mother.

Rev. Jerry McAfee prayed for the mother of the two children who were shot this morning at the intersection of Penn and Lowry avenues north at a vigil Friday afternoon. Brandt Williams | MPR News

The Rev. Brian Herron called for an end to the violence as he asked the community support the mother and her family in their time of grief.

"We know that the only thing that can heal this kind of hurt, is you. And so God, bless her. Touch her life," Herron said. "Be with her father. Bring healing father!"

Pastor Danny Givens, a cousin of the children's mother, said the 2-year-old boy, King, was a fun-loving bubbly kid and his baby sister is a sweet young soul.

Two people hold hands during a prayer circle that was formed at a vigil in north Minneapolis. Jackson Forderer for MPR News

"My family's in a state of shock, an extreme state of shock," Givens said. "I come from a really big family. Really big family. My first cousins — there's 50 of us now."

Police say Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau and Mayor Betsy Hodges visited the family at the hospital but were not available to comment.