A 9-year-old's parents and police looked for answers Thanksgiving day after the boy was shot in the leg not far from his Newark home Wednesday night.

Donte Kennedy, 9, was shot around 8 p.m. on Dayton Street, which is a couple of blocks away from his home in the Seth Boyden Housing Project. Edward Cornell, the victim's father, said his son was walking to the corner store to buy eggs for Thanksgiving dinner. The boy told police somebody drove by and shot him.

Neighbor Ivette Ramos said she heard the shot from her apartment and told Kennedy from her window to stay put while she called police.

Cornell called his neighborhood a "war zone," saying, "it needs to be addressed and this is the reason why."

Meanwhile, police contacted family services. Investigators want to know why the victim's parents allowed their son to go out in such a dangerous Newark neighborhood alone after dark.

The bullet went through Kennedy's right calf, breaking a bone in his leg. He faces reconstructive surgery and is receiving treatment at University Hospital.