2 toddlers wounded in Baltimore drive-by

BALTIMORE, June 10 (UPI) -- A drive-by shooting that injured two toddlers trying to keep cool in a wading pool appears to be gang-related, Baltimore police said Tuesday.

Investigators said that the shooter, after driving slowly up Winchester Street in West Baltimore, sprayed the area with gunfire from a .45-caliber semi-automatic weapon, WJZ-TV reported. The shooting occurred at 10 p.m. Monday.

"There were gang signs flashed, words exchanged, then many gunshots before the black car sped away," said Baltimore Police Commissioner Fred Bealefeld.

Steven Cole, 2, and Talayha Mabel, 3, were taken to the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. She was wounded in the leg, and he in the body.

Jasmine Scott told the Baltimore Sun that her children were also in the pool at the time of the shooting. She said that the children were outside trying to cool off because their apartments, most lacking functioning air conditioners, were unbearable in temperatures in the 90s.

"It's ridiculous," Scott said. "These kids got shot because they couldn't go inside their house."