Christopher Lee Benscome, 18, of Allentown, was charged for firing the shot that struck a juvenile passenger sitting in a car on Third and Grape Streets just before 6 p.m., according to the Whitehall Township Police Department.
The child was taken to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
Investigators believe the shooting was preceded by an incident involving multiple vehicles on Route 22, according to the release.
The young child was not the initial target of gunfire, authorities told LehighValleyLive.
Bencosme allegedly told officers he fired eight shots at the vehicle carrying five other people and the child, the news outlet says citing court papers.
Benscome was charged with aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person, and discharge of a firearm into an occupied structure, police said.
He is being held in Lehigh County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail, according to the outlet.
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