Bronx sidewalk shooting: NYPD releases photo of person of interest in connection with gunfire that nearly hit children
MOUNT EDEN, the Bronx — The NYPD released a new photo of a person of interest in connection to a shooting Thursday where two young children were nearly caught in the crossfire on a Bronx street, when a gunman shot a man multiple times at close range.
Police said it happened around 6:45 p.m. Thursday on Sheridan Avenue, near East 172nd Street, in the Mount Eden section of the borough.
The unidentified shooter walked up and opened fire at the 24-year-old victim, striking him in the back and both legs, authorities said.
Video shows the children, a 5-year-old boy and 10-year-old girl, get caught up in the dangerous melee, despite not knowing the victim. According to police, they were just walking down the street when it all went down.
In the video you can see the girl pull the younger boy and cover him as bullets rang out around them.
Miraculously, neither of the children were wounded, officials said.
The suspect then hopped on the back of a scooter operated by another individual and both fled the scene, heading northbound on Sheridan Avenue, police said.
According to the NYPD, the victim was taken to an area hospital by private means. While his condition was not clear, police Friday morning said he was “stable.”
The NYPD released the video of the incident above in hopes the public could help identify the suspect, who they described as a man wearing sunglasses and all-black clothing.
The getaway driver was described as a man wearing a white baseball cap, a red long-sleeved shirt and dark-colored shorts.
Police are calling the man in the photo a "person of interest" in connection with the shooting.
Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls are strictly confidential.