A 9-year-old Trenton girl who was apparently caught in the middle of a violent confrontation is listed in stable condition, after being shot three times in the shoulder and leg on Monday.

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The child was walking home from school when gunfire erupted along Bellevue Avenue.

Neighbors expressed shock and dismay at the incident.

"It's ridiculous, the people behind it is ridiculous," said one man, shaking his head. "It's painful, it just hurts, 'cause it was a little girl caught in the crossfire. It didn't make no sense anyway."

A nearby woman agreed.

"They shouldn't have been shooting at kids and stuff, it just shouldn't have happened," she said. "I think it's real terrible. I feel nervous in this area, I really do; to me it's not safe nowhere you go, but it's not safe around here when you come home."

Another neighbor chimed in, saying "there's been a lot of incidents where crazy stuff is going on lately, and the summer hasn't even came yet."

One man blamed violent young people for the trouble.

"They don't have much to do here anyway, it's not nothing but chaos being preached and shown to them," he said. "You've got generations upon generations that have just done the same thing, so it really has to start at home first. At some point the community has got to come together to make sure their children don't have guns, violence, congregating and doing things they shouldn't be doing."

The man continued on, saying "I'm scared, yeah. I have a child, she comes to visit me, comes to see me. It could have been my child; it could have been me."

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