A man accused of shooting an 8-year-old boy in the face Tuesday afternoon in Dallas is being held on a $2.2 million bond. D.J. Maiden, who turned 8 on Sunday, was shot at his apartment complex while collecting toys he had gotten for his birthday, his grandfather George Locklin said. “It’s unbelievable,” Locklin said. “I mean, [we] just can’t put it into — we coping with it, you know?” Maiden had emergency surgery at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas, where he remains in critical condition, police said. Witnesses said a man, whom neighbors did not recognize and was wearing only one shoe, was handing out free firecrackers to children playing tag in the parking lot. The man had a brief exchange with a boy, who then started running back toward his apartment. Witnesses said the man pulled out a handgun and fired twice at the child, hitting him once in the cheek. Brian Cloninger, 46, was arrested and charged with felony injury to a child.
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