Crime & Safety
Hayward Girl's Gunshot Wound Mistaken by Family for Menstruation
A doctor confirmed the wound was small and could have easily been overlooked if the parents had thought the girl was starting her period, police said.
By Bay City News Service
HAYWARD — A Hayward family who failed to call police immediately after their 10-year-old daughter was hit by gunfire early Thursday morning apparently thought the girl had started her period, police said Friday.
Police said they interviewed family members living at the home on Tampa Avenue and they all said that when the girl woke up around 2 a.m. Thursday with pain and bleeding, her symptoms seemed consistent with starting menstruation, according to Sgt. Mark Ormsby.
Even after taking her into a restroom to help her, they saw no indication that the girl had been struck by a bullet in the buttocks.
The girl awoke in pain again in the morning, and it was only then that the parents noticed bullet holes near her bed.
After seeing the bullet holes, they inspected her body more closely, located the bullet entry wound and called 911 around 7:35 a.m., more than five hours after the shooting, Ormsby said.
A doctor confirmed the wound was small and could have easily been overlooked if the parents had thought the girl was starting her period, Ormsby said.
The bullet had lodged in the girl's pelvis. She is now recovering with her family, according to police.
Multiple shell casings were found outside the home but no arrests have been made in connection with the shooting, police said.
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