Police are investigating after a man was fatally shot near a day care in the Bronx on Wednesday.

Officers responded to East 183 Street and Hughes Avenue in the Belmont section just after 2 p.m., and found a 19-year-old man unconscious and unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the chest.

One man told Eyewitness News that he heard four to five gunshots, and said there was no argument before or after the gunfire rang out.

The victim, identified as Bronx resident Lamar Simmons, was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital in critical condition, where he later died from his injuries.

Shell casings littered the street where parents pick up their young children. The nearby daycare was instead wrapped by crime scene tape, and swarming with detectives.

Residents say the neighborhood is no stranger to violence.

“It’s scary. Especially because it’s a day care. My baby is about to be one,” said a resident named Kiara.

The victim’s sister and his father say he was on his way home from school and was set to join the family for dinner.

“Me and my mom just broke down once we went into the emergency room,” the victim’s sister said. “I just can’t believe what’s going on. He was the youngest. I feel like I’m about to have a nervous breakdown.”

“We don’t know. We’re still trying to answer questions we can’t even answer right now,” said the victim’s father.

The victim’s sister said her brother was a “smart kid.”

“He knew big words I didn’t even know and I’m a grown woman,” the victim’s sister said. “I’m 31 years old. I’m about to be 31 years old. He’s smart.”

The victim’s long-time neighbor, meanwhile, describes him as a respectful young man who was not involved in gangs. He thinks perhaps it may have been a case of mistaken identity.

Police are looking for three men wearing hoodies who fled the scene on a scooter.

No arrests have been made, and the investigation is ongoing.

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