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A 17-year-old was arrested and charged with murder, attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon on Saturday after police say he shot and killed a 16-year-old girl and injured two others in New York City’s Bronx borough on Friday.
In a press conference, the New York Police Department (NYPD) called the shooter an “emboldened individual.”
Deputy Police Chief Timothy McCormack said the case was not finished yet, and that crime scenes were still being processed.
NYC SHOOTING OUTSIDE BRONX SCHOOL KILLS TEEN, INJURES TWO OTHERS
Authorities noted Friday that the teenagers were caught in the middle of a dispute as they were possibly walking home from school.
The deceased victim was hit in the torso. Another 16-year-old girl was hit in the leg and a 17-year-old boy was wounded in the buttocks. Both are expected to survive.
The gunfire erupted just before 1:45 p.m. ET at the corner of East 156th Street and St Ann’s Avenue outside the South Bronx Educational Campus.
The campus is home to two schools: Mott Haven Village Prep and University Heights Secondary School.
The Department of Education said two of the teens went to Mott Haven. The third teen went to University Prep Charter High School.
One suspect was standing on a corner “gesturing” to someone on an opposite corner, police explained then.
After some back-and-forth, the suspect pulled out a firearm and opened fire, they said.
McCormack told reporters that six shell casings had been recovered from the scene.
“We have two families that are completely destroyed right now. Our victim’s family and our shooter’s family. A hard-working woman raising a child who has zero police contact at all and he goes from smoking marijuana to killing somebody,” McCormack added.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who has made fighting crime a priority since taking office on Jan.1, tweeted about the shooting on Friday.
“We lost a 16 year old baby in the Bronx today. We pray for this young girl, for her family, and for the other two victims in the hospital. It’s a tragedy. It’s unacceptable. It’s why we can’t abandon our streets to gun violence,” he wrote.
Crime in the Big Apple has soared amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the first three months of 2022, crime overall jumped 44% compared to the same time frame in 2022, according to NYPD data.
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The number of children injured by gunfire in New York City has nearly doubled this year. As of March 15, 24 children were shot year-to-date, compared to the 13 reported during the same period in 2021.
However, child murder victims as of the same time frame were down.
Fox News’ Stephanie Pagones, Louis Casiano and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
