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7-year-old dies in 3rd case of gun violence against North Carolina children this week

A 7-year-old boy was shot and killed Wednesday in Hickory, North Carolina — the third time in two days a child under 10 was hit by gunfire in the state.

The other two cases — Wednesday in Shelby and Tuesday in Apex — resulted in children being hospitalized with serious injuries, officials say.

Hickory police identified the latest victim as Zakylen Greylen Harris, who died at Catawba Valley Medical Center.

The shooting happened around 11:12 p.m. Wednesday in the 1900 block of Tate Boulevard, a commercial area in southeast Hickory, police said in a release. Hickory is about 55 miles northwest of Charlotte.

Zakylen was in a vehicle with his mom and two siblings, ages 6 and 1, when he was hit by gunfire in “the neck area,” police said.

Police say they believe the shots were fired from “a small dark colored SUV ... with possible multiple occupants.”

Investigators did not say what happened prior to the shooting. A description of the driver was not released.

North Carolina has seen a spate of children injured or killed by gunfire.

On Tuesday, bullets fired during an argument outside a home in the Catawba County town of Shelby passed through a wall and struck an 8-month-old girl as she slept, the Charlotte Observer reported. The child was hospitalized with a bullet wound to the back.

On Wednesday, the Wake County Sheriff’s Office said a 4-year-old girl suffered “very serious injuries” when as many as eight shots were fired at a home in the Apex area, The News & Observer reported.

On April 13, a 7-year-old girl died after being hit by gunfire in Gaston County, police said. The shots were fired as her uncle was making a music video, McClatchy News reported.