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Young Girl Waiting on Easter Bunny Hit by Gunfire During Botched Shoplifting

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What began as a 9-year-old California girl’s trip to a mall for pictures with someone dressed as the Easter Bunny, ended up as a trip to the hospital instead.

On Tuesday, Victorville police responded to the Mall of Victor Valley after a shooting incident left a girl wounded, according to a news release from the Victorville Police Department.

It took a while, but police learned that she was the victim of an accidental shooting.

Police said Marqel Cockrell, 20, who they identified as the co-owner of a store at the mall called Sole Addicts, was chasing two shoplifters out of the store.

As he pursued the shoplifters, Cockrell fired multiple shots at them.

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He missed his intended targets, instead hitting the girl, who was later identified by family members as Ava Rose, according to KTTV.

Ava was taken to Loma Linda University Medical Center.

Cockrell fled the mall, which was closed after the incident.

Is common sense in short supply these days?

More than two hours after the shooting, Nevada Highway Patrol found Cockrell, stopped his vehicle and took him into custody

Cockrell was booked in at the Clark County Jail on a charge of attempted murder, with bail set at $1 million.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department evacuated the mall, according to ABC, until it was learned how the shooting took place.

The shooting was the second in recent months near the Mall of Victor Valley. In November, one man was killed and two other people were wounded in a shooting that took place outside the mall.

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Writing on a GoFundMe page, Natalie Moraga said she was the girl’s mother.

“[M]y daughter Ava was shot on Tuesday April 12, 2022 by a active shooter in Victorville mall she is just 9 years old, no little girl deserves this !” she wrote.

“No child deserves this she was at the mall going for Easter pictures with the bunny she such a sweet loving girl and loves reading her books, she is suffering from 2 gunshot wounds, and her arm is broken!!!!!!”

(The Western Journal does not endorse GoFundMe, but reproduces the information to inform readers.)

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Jack Davis is a freelance writer who joined The Western Journal in July 2015 and chronicled the campaign that saw President Donald Trump elected. Since then, he has written extensively for The Western Journal on the Trump administration as well as foreign policy and military issues.
Jack Davis is a freelance writer who joined The Western Journal in July 2015 and chronicled the campaign that saw President Donald Trump elected. Since then, he has written extensively for The Western Journal on the Trump administration as well as foreign policy and military issues.
Jack can be reached at jackwritings1@gmail.com.
Location
New York City
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Politics, Foreign Policy, Military & Defense Issues




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