A man is on the run after he reportedly opened fire on a neighbour’s house during a loud birthday party and shot a 16-year-old girl, leaving her paraplegic.

Edson ‘El Boli’ Ortiz is suspected of shooting teenager Sandra Lozano in the neighbourhood of Barracas in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires earlier this month.

Sandra was celebrating a friend’s birthday with her sister Sara, 21, when the shooting occurred.

Sara told reporters: “We were having a good time, listening to music, eating snacks, and the door of my friend’s uncles’ house was open to let in the fresh air.

“Suddenly we saw a man shouting in a bad way, demanding that we turn the music down. He said ‘if you don’t turn it down, everyone will wake up dead’.”

The birthday celebrations continued and partygoers reportedly ignored the neighbour’s threat.

Sara said she was chatting with friends when she turned her head towards the front gate and saw the same man pointing a gun towards the house, adding: “I remember my little sister was dancing close to me, I turned around and saw Sandra on her back with blood gushing from her chest.”

Sara, a nursing student, did her best to keep her sister alive while other guests called the emergency services.

She said the ambulance was taking too long to arrive and decided that her sister had a better chance of survival if she drove her directly to hospital.

The news site TN reported that an on-duty doctor at Penna Hospital told Sara on Sunday, 10th October, that: “Thanks to you and your quick action, your sister did not die on the day of the attack.”

The doctor, who was not named, added that a bullet punctured Sandra’s lung and hit her bone marrow which means she will probably never walk again.

Sandra is still in critical condition at the hospital.

An investigation has been launched and police are actively searching for Ortiz.