Girl, 7, shot in face in drive-by shooting on interstate in Tennessee

A 7-year-old girl is recovering Monday after she was shot in the face over the weekend in a drive-by shooting on a stretch of Interstate 24 near Nashville, Tennessee, police said.

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The girl, Kayla Velazquez, was sitting in the back seat of a vehicle on Interstate 24 near Hickory Hollow Parkway when a man opened fire from a Ford sedan around 10:40 p.m. Saturday, according to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department.

Kayla was in the vehicle with three other people when she was shot. A witness told police that the group was driving home from a Walmart in Smyrna "when they heard multiple booming noises."

The bullet went through Kayla's cheek and nose, police said. She was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where she was listed Sunday in stable condition.

A second vehicle was also hit by gunfire. Police said none of the people in that vehicle, a couple and their 8-month-old child, were injured.

It was not immediately known if the accused shooter, who was seen hanging out of a white older-model Ford sedan, was aiming to hit either car when he opened fire. Police are investigating the shooting.

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