The shots were heard near East 56th Street and Linden Boulevard in East Flatbush around 7:45 p.m., as the two victims and an 8-year-old girl were sitting in the vehicle. Police say the two children hung out at their grandmother’s beauty salon all day and that a relative who drove them home stopped at a Boston market for dinner. Detectives now believe the suspect vehicle was pulled over and the gunman got out of a car and opened fire, unloading up to 12 rounds of ammunition in the direction of the victim’s car. READ ALSO MTA reveals 7 priorities, says NYPD presence helps tackle crime Both the 12-year-old boy and the 20-year-old woman were hit by the fire and the boy was shot in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene. The woman was shot three times and taken to a nearby hospital, where she underwent surgery and is expected to survive. The 8-year-old girl was not injured. She told police she was eating and looking at her phone at the time. Detectives say surveillance video showed the suspect’s vehicle circling the square three times before the gunman opened fire, and they believe the victim’s vehicle was actually the target – most likely in the event of a misidentification. The car is a common make and model with tinted windows, so the suspects may not have been able to see that there were children inside. The suspect’s vehicle had been stolen off state license plates and police will likely release surveillance of this vehicle in the coming days. The victims were all from the same family, although their exact relationships are not clear at this time. “They are killing passers-by and it is wrong because at the moment this little boy is lying in the morgue,” said a local resident named An. “You are walking down the street. “In your house. People are shooting right inside your house. I mean, it’s awful.” Neighbor Charlotte Jen said she heard gunshots as well as another distinct sound. “I told my daughter, ‘There was a gunshot outside and I heard children crying,’” he said. “Maybe it was the little girl in the back of the car.” On Friday morning, Governor Kathy Hotsul tweeted a call for an end to the violence. 12 years old. A life cut short, a family mourning and an entire community injured. We need to do more to remove illegal weapons from our streets and stop the violence before it starts. https://t.co/hFlMoyG9cR – Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) April 1, 2022Mayor Eric Adams visited the scene overnight. “The question I keep asking is, what about innocent people? What about people who sit in their cars and are shot and killed?” said Adams. “We hear so much about those who fight, but when are we going to start fighting for the innocent people of this city?” There is no information yet on the motive of the shooting. READ ALSO Homeless occupy the stairs of an apartment building in the Bronx This incident marked at least the fourth child to be hit by unintentional fire this year in New York. On March 25, a 3-year-old girl was shot in the arm outside a kindergarten in Brownsville, Brooklyn. He has been released from the hospital. On March 21, a 7-year-old girl grazed on her stomach as she and her mother went home to Coney Island, Brooklyn. He was treated and released. January 29 – An 11-month-old girl is shot in the face while sitting in the back seat of a car parked in the Bronx. She also survived. ———- * More news from Brooklyn* Send us a news tip* Download the abc7NY application for emergency notifications * Follow us on YouTube Submit a news tip Copyright © 2022 WABC-TV. All rights reserved.
