New York City Gun Violence Continues With 8-Year-Old Boy Shot In Queens

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — The NYPD responded to at least six separate shootings overnight across New York City, including a triple shooting that injured a child in Queens.

Police said an 8-year-old boy was hit in his torso just before 10 p.m. in St. Albans. His injuries are serious, but he is expected to be OK.

The boy’s father was also shot in the leg, and a 57-year-old bystander was grazed in his leg.

Police sources told CBS2 the father was the intended target. Sources said he is a member of a gang, has multiple prior arrests and has survived two previous shootings.

A few hours earlier in the Bronx, officers responded to a robbery at a cellphone store on 174th Street.

Police said an armed suspect showed a weapons, and at least one officer fired a shot. Investigators believe the bullet hit the suspect, who took off and is still on the run.

The NYPD responded to at least four other shootings, including a fatal in East Flatbush.

Police said a 33-year-old man was shot in the chest on the first floor of a building on Church Avenue.

“We know that the summer brings more challenges,” NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said in an interview.

According to the department’s latest numbers, shooting victims are up more than 78% — 552 compared to 309 this time last year — and up more than 118% compared to two years ago.

The city is on pace for the highest number of shootings at this point in the year in a decade.

However, the commissioner says gun arrests are up.

“We have, in the first quarter of this year, exceeded in the prior 20-plus, quite a bit years,” he said.

As for the Queens shooting, sources said two different caliber bullets were found at the scene, leading investigators to believe there were at least two gunmen, who may have been firing toward one another.

from CBS New York https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2021/05/20/nyc-gun-violence-8-year-old-shot/
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