5 year old Minneapolis boy shot while sleeping

Ninzel Banks, age 5

In the second time in 6 months, a young child was shot to death in his home. This time it's a 5 year old boy who was sleeping in his Minneapolis home. He died from a bullet meant for someone else in the home. From the article:

A bullet went through the front of a north Minneapolis home Tuesday morning and fatally struck a sleeping 5-year-old boy in his back.

The 10 or so shots from outside the home were fired shortly after 8:35 a.m. in the 4500 block of Bryant Avenue N., police said. Police Chief Tim Dolan said there was one shooter who ran away afterwards.

The boy, Ninzel Banks, was asleep on a couch when he was shot, said Robert Tolliver, who's staying at the home and is an uncle of the boy's mother.

At a news conference Tuesday afternoon with Dolan and other city officials, Mayor R.T. Rybak said the home was the shooter's "intended target."

Dolan said police believe the shooting stems from an "ongoing dispute between the likely suspect and people in that household."

From a related article:

[Nizzel's mother Christina] Banks said Nizzel was a smart boy who was about to enter first grade. He loved to swim and ride his bike.

The boy had stayed overnight at his grandmother's house because he was to go swimming with his uncles Tuesday, relatives said. One of the uncles, Robert Tolliver, said he rose at 8 a.m. to make breakfast and heard what sounded like fireworks.

Tolliver said Nizzel and his grandmother came running from a room at the front of the house. Nizzel was hollering "Oh, Oh!" and then laid down on a couch and began crying.

Tolliver said he saw Nizzel was bleeding and it looked like he was shot in the back.

Seven bullet holes could be seen in the side of the house hours after the shooting. Inside, family members pointed out at least four holes where they said police had dug out bullets.

Police said the house was the intended target of the shooting around 8:30 a.m. "We know we have an ongoing dispute. We do not want to see more shootings," said Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan, joining the mayor in pleading for peace.

Dolan would not discuss the nature of the dispute, but said authorities are making progress in the case.

Investigators think one person on foot fired about 10 shots at the house. At least one bullet went through a wall and struck the boy, killing him.

"It's extremely tragic when you have these young, innocent kids who are killed as a result of poor choices that are made by older kids and adults that are around them," Minneapolis police Inspector Mike Martin said.

Several people were inside the house, including other children, at the time of the shooting.

 There is something really wrong when ten shots ring out in a neighborhood and one of them finds a five year old child. Children should be able to sleep at home without bullets ending their lives..