BAINBRIDGE, GA (WALB) - Three people, including two children, are recovering after Bainbridge Public Safety officers said fireworks were shot at them on the Fourth of July.
Police said one of these two incidents is being investigated as a hate crime, because victims say racial slurs were yelled at 12-year-old Brianna Thomas, and Shontrel Thomas, her mother, as the fireworks were set off.
The grandmother of that little girl, Annette Brown, said Wednesday was the girl's birthday, and she had to spend it in a lot of pain.
Investigator Chip Nix with Bainbridge PD said that incident happened at 9:30 Tuesday night near the Dairy Queen, off Shotwell Street.
Officers believe people in a gray Dodge pickup truck, driven by a white male, shot a firework from the truck window directly at a 12-year-old girl.
"A lot of times you have people throw them at the direction of other people. Which in these incidents is what happens. They have burns, your injuries could range right up to death," said Nix.
The second incident happened around 10 p.m. on July 4th, when a woman and her daughter were hit by a firework at the boat basin in Bainbridge.
Investigators say a young group of men shot a firework at them, also causing injuries in this case, but that is not seen as a hate crime.
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