Lake County toddler recovers after being shot

TAVARES, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Two-year-old Symia Pierce is in pain, but she's okay, a day after a bullet grazed her stomach.

"It was kind of scary.  I did cry cause I didn't know what was going on at the time, that was just scary," says Symia's mother, Tiffany Collins.

Collins says Symia was playing in the back of her car when bullets began to fly in the driveway of her home on Rosewood Lane.

"Then I saw she was bleeding, and the blood was gushing out on the side, and then I went inside and laid her down on the couch, holding a rag on the pressure," she explains.

Neighbors tell us, crime in the Rosewood neighborhood is getting worse, and they complain the Homeowner's Association isn't enforcing their own safety rules.

"The kids aren't supposed to be out passed a certain time, you know? The HOA needs to get on the parents, let them know hey, 'You signed this agreement, can we abide by it?'" says neighbor Rebecca Allen.

Police say they're working with the HOA and have been increasing  patrols here to prevent another child from becoming a victim.

"We do receive quite a few calls to the Rosewood Apartment Complex, our department is actively working with the HOA to try and improve the conditions there," says Sarah Coursey, Road Patrol Corporal with the Tavares Police Department, "and we have before this call, trying to get the police presence to be a bit more elevated in that neighborhood." 

Police have found a car that matches the description of the vehicle in last night drive-by shooting.  Anyone with information is asked to call the Tavares Police Department at 352-742-6300 or Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS (8477).