9-year-old shot, killed in car on the way to get snow cone

DURHAM, N.C. -- A 9-year-old was killed and an 8-year-old injured in a Durham shooting Sunday.

The shooting happened Sunday night just before 9 p.m. near Duke Street and Leon Street.

The 9-year-old was identified as Zion Person.

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According to Zion's aunt Danyell Ragland, five children -- as young as 3 -- were in the car at the time of the shooting. They were on their way to Pelican's SnoBalls to get snow cones.

"I hear a horn and when the horn beeped I looked around," Ragland said. "I'm getting ready to turn and...I hear gunshots but I didn't know they were shooting at me."

"It's disgusting! It's sad," neighbor Sam Rose said. She heard the gunshots when they rang out Sunday night. "Children are the people we're supposed to protect the most. I know a little girl lives right across the street, and all I could think of last night--based on the trauma I experienced--is the kids who were sleeping in their beds, no longer able to feel comfortable in their beds."

Police said the shooter(s) were in a burgundy Honda Accord with tinted windows.

Multiple shots were fired into the family's Ford Escape.

Investigators do not believe the shooting was a random act of violence.

"They're going to pay. I promise," said Ragland. "They're going to rot in hell for what they did."

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She said the shooters must have thought she was someone else because her windows are tinted and it was dark outside.

"Now my sister's got to bury her son," Ragland said. "He ain't nothing but 9. He didn't even go through life yet. He was just getting started."

"I and members of the Durham Police Department extend condolences to the family of Zion Person," Durham Police Chief C.J. Davis said. "This is another act of senseless violence that simply must be stopped and we are working aggressively to identify the people involved. I am asking anyone with information to come forward and speak with our investigators."

Anyone with information about who may be responsible for the shooting is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 919-683-1200.