JACKSON, Miss. — Eight-year-old Sanaa Amber Hill successfully underwent surgery Wednesday, Dec. 16 the University of Mississippi Medical Center after a stray bullet struck her in the lower right side of her head around 2:30 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 10.
The bullet as well as bone fragments have been successfully removed according to family spokesperson Billy Redd. Redd is president and CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Mississippi. “The surgery was completed around Noon,” Redd said.
The Sykes Elementary School student was doing her homework in the Sykes Road Unit of the Boys and Girls Club (BGC) after-school program. The unit is located at 470 Sykes Road in South Jackson.
The shooting came from the nearby Sykes Park about 200 plus yards away. Witnesses told police they saw two males and a female in a gray car at the park.
The bullet, which is consistent with that of an assault rifle, pierced an aluminum siding exterior wall, entered through the interior wall of the unit’s gymnasium, went into an art supply room, through a small roll of art or bulletin board paper and a box, then from the art supply room through the wall leading into the area where the children were doing their homework, and hit the Sanaa in the head.
Redd, who rush to the scene, told the media safety is and has always been top priority with the Boys and Girls Clubs. “Our staff is constantly looking at how to keep our children safe and will continue to,” he said. “But when someone is off our property shooting and it (the bullet) comes into our building, there is nothing we can do,” he added. He indicated that this incident is a testament to how much the BGCs are needed. “These walls literally saved this little girl’s life. These four walls slowed that bullet down,” he said.
Redd wants the community to continue to support the 3,200 boys and girls of the Central Mississippi clubs, which are located in Canton, Bolton and Jackson.
Recently sworn-in Jackson Police Chief Rebecca J. Coleman is urging the community to come forth with any information they may have that will help to swiftly solve this case. “If anyone has seen anything no matter how big or how small, please contact the Jackson Police Department so we can get the information to our detectives,” she said via her Public Information Officer (PIO)Joseph Daughtry.
Chief Coleman has also authorized the JPD Chaplin Division to be with Sanaa’s family and JPD Community Service Manager Linda Wooley to provide whatever counseling services they may need.
Daughtry said this is definitely an isolated incident. “This little girl was where she was supposed to be, in a controlled environment, doing her homework,” he said. “She was not in the streets.”
“I’ve never seen anything like this in my 37 and a half years in education nor in the seven years that I’ve been here,” said Unit Director Booker Ducksworth, following a prayer vigil by area ministers and residents at 7 a.m. Friday at the unit.
Ducksworth held the belief that Sanaa was going to pull through this. “See I know a little something about the power of prayer,” he told The Mississippi Link.
He was so confident that he has left Sanaa’s homework and her No.2 pencil in place at the table where she was sitting when the bullet hit her. “Her homework is going to stay right there until she returns to complete it,” he said. She was just getting ready to start on page 2.”
According to Jackson Public School officials, counselors were on hand to aid Sanaa’s schoolmates in dealing with the crisis. Counselors were also at the Sykes Boys and Girls unit as well.
Ducksworth commends his staff for keeping the other the boys and girls at ease Thursday during and following the incident. They took the children into the gymnasium where they remained quiet and continued their homework.
The retired educator said the police patrol around the area has always been good. Both he and JPD’s PIO commented on how well the officers assisted parents rushing to the unit by helping them to calm down before entering the building.
Assistant Police Chief Lee Vance commented at the scene to the media at the scene: “The Boys and Girls Club is a safe place to be. There’s no place on Earth that is 100 percent foolproof.”
An update from Redd Dec. 16 at 9:22 p.m. stated the following on Sanaa’s progress:
“Sanaa Hill, the eight year old stay bullet victim at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Mississippi is doing fantastic. Earlier today, she had surgery to remove the bullet and bone fragments. Tonight she is sitting up, talking, watching TV and alert to everyone in her room!!!!!! Let’s keep her and her family in our prayers but this is an answer to prayer and a cause for celebration! Thank you to all our media friends who have helped get the word out concerning this amazing young lady.”
The name Sanaa is an African girl’s name, which means “work of art.”
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