A fight outside a Woolworths supermarket between two women ended with an 11-year-old girl being shot in the face in a suburban Tasmanian street and a man facing charges.
Phoenix Newitt was shot while sitting in a car with her mother, uncle and four-year-old cousin on Tuesday evening outside a house in Deloraine, near Launceston.
A 25-year-old man appeared in court on Wednesday afternoon on charges of grievous bodily harm and recklessly discharging a firearm.
Police say Phoenix's mother and the alleged shooter's girlfriend were involved in a scuffle at the Woolworths in the hours before the shooting.
"It initially started as a verbal dispute and became physical," Detective Inspector John King said.
"One lady has received a bite mark and the other has received a cut to her head."
Phoenix and the three others in the car travelled to Stagg Court where the alleged shooter lives.
Inspector King said the alleged shooter then got in a verbal argument with Phoenix's uncle.
He fired a rifle at the car from about 50 metres away.
The shot hit the car's passenger door before ricocheting into Phoenix who was sitting in the back seat.
Fragments lodged in her neck and head and travelled to her heart through her bloodstream.
Family members rushed her to a nearby medical centre before she was taken to Launceston Hospital and then flown to Melbourne for emergency surgery.
Her condition improved to stable on Wednesday morning and her mother is understood to be by her side at The Royal Children's Hospital.
"It certainly didn't look good to start with but it's very, very pleasing to hear that her condition is improving," Inspector King said.
Investigators are yet to find the gun, believed to a small-calibre rifle.
Phoenix's uncle, who was in the car at the time, told the ABC the family is shaken.
"She's a beautiful little girl," Zack Newitt said.
"She is just one of those kids that everyone loves."
Neighbours have told The Advocate newspaper they heard a "heap of yelling" before a swarm of police arrived.
Investigators are reviewing CCTV footage from Woolworths and are urging anyone with information to come forward.
The alleged shooter is expected to re-appear in Launceston Magistrates Court on Friday.
