Toddler shot on Alberta reserve released from hospital

A little girl who was shot on an Alberta reserve in a drive-by shooting linked to a gang drug war has been released from hospital.

Asia Saddleback was wounded by a bullet shot through her grandfather's home on the Samson Cree First Nation south of Edmonton on April 13.

Sources say the 23-month-old girl recovered enough to be released from Edmonton's Stollery Children's Hospital even though the bullet remains lodged in her body.

Last week Candace Saddleback, Asia's mother, said she was too scared to ever go back to her home on the reserve.

Since the shooting, RCMP have stepped up patrols on four reserves in the Hobbema area, where 13 gangs are involved in the illegal drug trade.

First Nations leaders, police and residents from the community have formed a task force to come up with a plan to thwart the gangs.