It happened near Tulare and Wessmith in Madera. Police responded to the shooting around 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday night. Witnesses told police the victims and the suspects had got into some sort of fight at a different location earlier in the day.
Interim Chief Steve Frazier told Action News, "Information we have now is that before the shooting there was an exchange of gang signs, and the typical verbiage that goes with that, someone, either the victim or the suspect was chased from house to a different location and that's where the shooting occurred, so we feel at this time, it was gang related."
When police arrived on scene, the 18-year-old had been shot in the chest, a relative of his had been shot in the foot, and the 8-year-old had been shot in the arm. The teen was rushed to the hospital, where he later died. The other man and the girl were treated and released.
Police say the girl is an "innocent" victim who was caught in the crossfire. Interim Chief Frazier said, "I have spoken with the family at the hospital, she's in good spirits, it's a tragedy that we have an innocent young girl struck by bullets as well."
Investigators say they're working with witnesses, and are close to identifying the suspects.