4-year-old girl shot in Avondale drive-by

A 4-year-old girl is in critical condition after a man opened fire on a crowd in Avondale on Thursday night, police said.

Officers found the girl with a gunshot wound after they were called to the 700 block of Ridgeway Avenue around 8:15 p.m.

She was taken to Children's Hospital Medical Center for treatment.

Police cars could be seen near the site of the shooting Friday and people had left a small collection of stuffed animals, toys, balloons and flowers marking the spot.

Police say witnesses described a man leaning out of the window of a beige four-door car shooting into a group of people, Cincinnati police Lt. Danita Pettis said.

The shooter was targeting someone in the crowd, but police do not yet know who that may have been, Pettis said.

Thursday's shooting marked the second time a child was shot and seriously injured in Avondale this month.

China Kinebrew, 6, lost her left eye and faced other health complications after she was shot July 5 near the intersection of Hale and Harvey avenues.

The two shootings occurred within .3 miles. When China was shot, police and city officials said the shooting of children in Avondale would not be tolerated.

On July 13, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center offices at 3440 Burnet Ave. in Avondale were shot at.

A police report said a shooter - 34-year-old Kenneth Harris, who was arrested later - was observed "shooting outside the location and rounds struck the outside of the building." The building is known as the Cincinnati Herald Building and housed Children's hospital offices.

After the Thursday shooting, Cincinnati City Manager Harry Black said he Police Chief Jeffrey Blackwell that "we know who these individuals are, and we are going after them."

"We are not going to be held hostage by this small handful of people," Black told reporters at the Ridgeway Avenue shooting. "We're no longer going to tolerate it. The key is I've had enough. ... Whoever they are out there, we are coming for you."

Greg Lattimore, who moved into an apartment on the street three months ago, said the neighborhood was unfit for raising a family.

"The people that live in this building aren't the ones (shooting), it's the people that don't live here," he said. "They sell drugs all night long in the hallways – then they leave."

Lattimore won't allow his girlfriend or child to stay with him, insisting they live with family members.

"Some of my family, they don't come here because they don't like the atmosphere," he said. "They won't come and visit. They won't even come on the street because of what's going on."