THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 13, 1995 TAG: 9510130523
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HAMPTON LENGTH: Short : 45 lines
A 9-year-old-girl was shot in the back Thursday by a 59-year-old man who later told police he was angry that children cross his property on their way home from school.
The girl, who suffered shotgun pellet wounds of her back and right arm, was not critically injured. She was taken to Sentara Hampton General Hospital for treatment and released Thursday night.
Witnesses said two or three other children were with the girl and in the line of fire when she was shot.
The names of the children were not released because of their ages.
The alleged gunman, Joseph Kemp Houck, faces charges of maiming and using a firearm while committing a felony.
``Unbelievable,'' was how police spokesman Donnie Moore summed up the case Thursday night. ``These are only 9- and 10-year-old kids. And it was not even his property.''
The shooting occurred just before 3:30 p.m. behind Houck's home in the first block of West Sherwood Ave., near the Jane E. Bryan Elementary School in the city's Phoebus section.
Moore said the children were about 20 to 30 feet from Houck's home in a field when he fired two blasts at them from a .12-gauge shotgun.
The open grassy area ``joins the school property, although I don't know where the boundary lines are for the school,'' Moore said. ``But where the shooting actually happened wasn't even on his property.''
Houck walked up to police and surrendered when they arrived, Moore said. He was still being questioned late Thursday.
Moore said Houck complained about children crossing his property on their way to and from the school, which is in the next block. Other residents of the area said some children do frequently take shortcuts across private property.
``But we're not even sure these are the kids who do the cutting through,'' Moore said.
KEYWORDS: ASSAULT SHOOTING INJURIES
ARREST by CNB