Gunman shoots girl and her 5-year-old brother out trick-or-treating in Olney

On Wednesday evening, two siblings went trick-or-treating in Olney, Philadelphia. They managed to collect quite a lot of candy but before they could make it home things took a turn for the worst.

The two children were caught in a crossfire that left them both wounded. They were taken to a hospital and one of them had a bullet lodged in his leg.

Makiya Williams, 14, and her younger brother Mael Howel, 5, were trick-or-treating at around 6:15 p.m. when they experienced a horrific incident. The pair was walking on the 5700 block of Hope Street and Grange Avenue near the One & Olney Shopping Center when they got caught in a crossfire.

Two gunmen started shooting at each other at least six times. Williams was grazed in the right leg while her brother got shot once in his left leg.

For more on this story go to our Twitter account @amomama_usa. One bullet went through the bedroom window of an occupied home, but luckily no one was hurt.

A second bullet hit a car nearby. The two unidentified gunmen were spotted running north on Hope Street after the shooting.

The brother and sister were taken to the Einstein Medical Centerby by a responding police officer. Later on, Williams was released while her brother was transferred to St. Christopher's Hospital where he was in stable condition.

After being released from a hospital, Williams shared, "I was just focused on getting him to safety to make sure he was alright.” She also had a message for the men who shot them, "Do better man. It was in broad daylight."

Howell was transferred to another hospital because doctors are trying to determine whether he will need surgery to remove the bullet fragment from his leg. Detectives are investigating the shooting.

Dominique Wise, the mother of the two victims said:

"Gun violence is ridiculous. It makes no sense to send your children out to go trick-or-treating and then you get a phone call that not one but two of your children were shot."

She added that she was “highly embarrassed for the neighborhood and it's just ridiculous as a mother." A container of candy was seen lying on the sidewalk inches away from bullet shell casings.

Witness Brian Carlin heard the shots and initially thought they were fireworks:

"It sounded like fireworks at first and that's why I looked out the window; that's when I started seeing the fire coming out of the guns. I was like 'what the hell is going on?' It's Halloween. There are kids out here.”

Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small stated:

"It appears that at least one of the shooters was standing in very close proximity to where these children were.”

Wise was also grateful that her children didn’t die in the shootout. She said:

"I just want to thank God because it could have been a lot worse. I know there's a lot of mothers that don't see their children; as hard as this was, I just thank God it was kind of minor as far as them living.”

Police haven’t released any detailed descriptions of the two gunmen but they did reveal that one of them was wearing a red and white mask and they both wore dark clothes.

Anyone with information is asked to please call the Philadelphia Police.

With regards to the murder of 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. more information has been released about the killer. Before committing the heinous crime, Robert Bowers, 46, was apparently unknown to law enforcement and had no criminal record.

He was wounded in a gun battle with police and sent to a hospital, but was discharged on Monday. Bowers was described as a truck driver who was “normal.”

He apparently lived in a flat in Baldwin, a suburb of Pittsburgh. His neighbors said he kept to himself and they never saw him with visitors.

He currently faces 29 charges.