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15-Year-Old Girl Struck By 7 Bullets In Newark Drive-By Shooting, But Somehow Survives

NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A teenager was shot multiple times during a drive-by shooting on Wednesday night.

The incident has police and the community searching for answers as the 15-year-old victim fights for her life, CBS2's Tara Jakeway reported Thursday.

The girl was shot while hanging out with friends on a Goodwin Avenue stoop.

The Newark Police Department said the victim was with a group of friends when she was hit by seven bullets fired from a moving car.

Newark drive-by shooting
The Goodwin Avenue stoop where Newark police said a 15-year-old girl was shot seven times during a drive-by shooting. (Photo: CBS2)

"A car drove by and fired some shots, and they all ran and she got struck. Luckily she's okay," Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said.

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Ambrose said it's lucky because those seven shots were fired from an automatic weapon. Somehow the young woman survived and was in stable condition on Thursday.

"It has been kind of slow for the summer and we don't like to see this, especially with a young 15-year-old girl," Ambrose said.

Police are reviewing surveillance footage from the block and only released a description of the car, a stolen white Volkswagen. There were at least three suspects in the car at the time and the motive for the shooting is unclear, police said.

"It's pathetic that we keep having stuff like this that occurs when guns end up in the wrong hands," Ambrose said.

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Newark police do not know if the young victim was the intended target, but said several leads are being investigated.

Public Safety Director Ambrose spoke with CBS2 outside the Essex County Police Academy Graduation. He said a large majority of the graduating class will join the the department and he hopes they'll help get guns off the streets.

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