LAS VEGAS – Officials honored a 10-year-old Nevada girl who was struck by a bullet while she shielded her baby brother and cousin when gunfire rang out in a Walmart parking lot.
It's Alliyah Ingraham day across Las #Vegas and #ClarkCounty! She's a humble and quiet 10 year old hero who threw herself in front of her infant brother and cousin when two men starting shooting at one another in a parking lot. Aaliyah was wounded and will soon undergo surgery. pic.twitter.com/794GbDik0O
— Clark County Nevada (@ClarkCountyNV) June 5, 2018
Aaliyah Inghram was with her mother, 18-month-old brother and 15-month-old cousin in a Walmart parking lot on May 8 when two men started shooting at each other.
“My first reaction was to get out, her’s was to jump on her baby brother,” Aaliyah’s mother Samantha Tygret told KVVU. “She jumped on his car seat when I told her to get on the ground. If she hadn’t done that a bullet would have hit him in the midsection.”
The 10-year-old threw herself over the two car seats her brother and cousin were sitting in and was struck in the back by a bullet.
On Tuesday, Clark County Commissioner Lawrence Weekly honored Aaliyah and declared June 5 “Aaliyah Ingraham Day.” Aaliyah was given a medal for heroism.
“She literally took a bullet for her brother. I can never repay her for what she did,” Tygret said.
The 10-year-old is still feeling the effects of the shooting and will have surgery next month to have the bullet lodged in her back removed.
Although she was injured, Aaliyah is still more concerned about her family. When accepting her award she said, "I hope that my brother will be OK." A special young lady. #Vegas pic.twitter.com/0rqWmmjVJN
— Clark County Nevada (@ClarkCountyNV) June 5, 2018
