Witnesses recount Inglewood shootout that left 13-year-old boy wounded

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (KABC) -- A shootout between two rival gangs broke out before sunset Monday, and two longtime Inglewood residents were caught in the center of it.

"I was actually about halfway out of my driveway. I saw a man with his daughter across the street and they ducked and ran. So that was my moment of realization that these weren't fireworks. They were gunshots," Jenny Rodriguez said.

That father and daughter she saw ran to Mary Hudson's porch without knowing her.

"They were still shooting and they kept saying, 'help, help.' I wouldn't have opened up the door if it wasn't for the little girl. She was shaking, she was crying. She said please," Hudson said.

Hudson said the two took cover in her home for several minutes.

"He raised his shirt up and wanted to know if he was shot, but she kept saying, 'No...you're fine. You're fine.' But she was crying and shaking at the same time. She was looking after her dad," Hudson said.

Just a few doors down, Jenny Rodriguez ducked and bolted into her backyard. Later, she found several bullets pelted her work vehicle.

She said commercial cars are only allowed to park on the street momentarily.

"If my van wasn't here, those bullets would have gone into my house, which I was just walking out. So I kind of felt like my van saved me. It was my shield," Rodriguez said.

An innocent 13-year-old boy was struck by a bullet in his lower back. Authorities said he is expected to survive.

Protecting children from gun violence is precisely why Hudson opened her door to the father and daughter.

"She was shaking real bad, but he didn't really speak any English. He kept saying, 'Thank you. Thank you,'" Hudson said.

It was one of two shootings that took place in Inglewood Monday night. Community members have been talking through a Facebook page.

Anyone with more information on the shootings is urged to call police.