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Child and father injured in New Year's Eve drive-by shooting, police say

The shooting happened shortly after 7 p.m. New Year's Eve at a home in the 1600 block of Springwood Drive, according to police.

MESQUITE, Texas — Mesquite police say a 1-year-old child and the child's father were injured in a New Year's Eve drive-by shooting.

Police responded to the home in the 1600 block of Springwood Drive shortly after 7 p.m. New Year's Eve and say the child had a minor wound to the head and was taken to Children's Hospital in Dallas. The father had a minor cut to the neck, either from being grazed by a bullet or by glass, per police. 

The father, who asked to remain anonymous, later told WFAA that no glass hit him or his child--that he was holding him when a bullet entered the home and grazed him and the boy. 

He went on to say that the bullet missed his main artery in his neck by half an inch--and that his son's skull was grazed, causing a brain bleed and minor swelling. He said the entry wound to his son's head was over an inch long. 

The boy, per the father, thankfully didn't need surgery and is being kept at Children's in Dallas as a precaution. They both spoke to WFAA on the phone Tuesday afternoon. 

How this all happened--is still being pieced together by investigators. 

Security footage released to WFAA shows a vehicle stopping at a stop sign, then turning right across from the home where the boy and his father were hit, and then someone approaching that vehicle and opening fire. Though it's not shown in the video, investigators say the shooter got out of another car in front of the vehicle that's seen stopping and turning before opening fire. 

Police said they found the car that is seen in the video and that it had been struck by gunfire. The driver of the vehicle was injured from flying glass, police say.

Police say they haven't determined what the shooter was targeting, and they haven't announced any arrests. The father told WFAA that he doesn't believe his family was targeted--that his mother has lived at the home for a very long time, and they were visiting her for New Year's Eve. 

This is a developing story. We'll update this story as additional information becomes available.

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