An 11-month-old baby girl was shot in the face by a stray bullet while seated in a parked car with her mother in the Bronx on Wednesday night, police and sources said.
The infant, whose first birthday is Friday, was secured in a safety seat inside the vehicle near the intersection of East 198th Street and Valentine Avenue when a male suspect up the block started firing at another man around 6:45 p.m., sources said.
One of the rouge rounds hit the baby in the cheek. She was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital in critical but stable condition before being transferred to another area hospital, police said.
“I hear three shots and I thought it was something else. I didn’t think it was a gun,” said witness Anna Maldonado, 40.
“My brother said he saw a lady holding a baby, the lady holding the baby was crying holding the baby with blood.”
The 32-year-old mother was not injured, according to sources.
Investigators recovered one shell casing at the scene.
Surveillance video obtained by The Post shows the apparent suspect with his gun drawn chasing another man around the corner of East 198th Street and Valentine Avenue.
In a post to Twitter, the NYPD’s 52nd Precinct urged people to avoid the area as investigators work the horrific scene.