The 78-year-old killed by a stray bullet in the Bronx was a great-grandfather out enjoying a warm spring evening at a barbecue just a few paces from his Bronx NYCHA apartment, police and heartbroken relatives said Friday.

Edgar Spence, lovingly nicknamed “Pop” and “GP” by his relatives,  was the second New Yorker to be killed by a stray bullet in the city this month, police said. On April 1, 7-month-old Kaori Patterson-Moore died after she was hit by a stray bullet while in her stroller in East Williamsburg.

The retired plumber was hanging out in a small park and playground behind his building on Alexander Ave. near E. 135th St., which is part of NYCHA’s Mitchel Houses in Mott Haven at about 10:30 p.m. when shots were fired nearby, cops said.

Enjoying the unseasonably warm weather, Spence’s neighbors were holding a barbecue when Spence was shot, his granddaughter said.

“He was sitting probably on the bench, maybe his scooter. I’m not sure exactly what he was doing but he was at like a cookout you know?” said his granddaughter, who wished not to be named. “He would just hang out when the weather was nice.”

The stray bullet hit Spence in the torso. EMS raced the senior to Lincoln Hospital, but he couldn’t be saved.

Spence lived in the Mitchel Houses with his daughter, just a few feet from where he was shot, cops said. He had several grandchildren and a number of great-grandchildren as well, relatives said.

The victim’s grandson was at the housing project when he and his friend heard the shots.

When they ran over, he realized that his grandfather had been hit.

“They went up to him in the park when they were resuscitating him,” the granddaughter said. “A friend of mine gave me a call (about it) from my brother’s phone.”

“I was devastated,” she said, recalling the harrowing call. “I was even more devastated when the detective declared he didn’t make it.”

It was not immediately clear what sparked the shooting that led to Spence’s death. No other injuries were reported.

Spence grew up in the Bronx. His wife died four years ago, relatives said.

While he was in good health, there was no way he could have survived a shooting at his age, his granddaughter said.

“He was a great person,” she said. “He was always playing cards, and just a great role model for everybody around. “(He was) happy, outgoing, loving, caring. Everybody loved him.”

An NYPD spokesman confirmed that Spence was an “unintended target” of the gunman, who ran off and remained on the loose Friday.

“I have no words for the person that did this,” his granddaughter said about the shooter.

The park was filled with people, including several children when the gunman opened fire, the granddaughter was told.

“It’s a park,” she said. “You think that the park is safe to take your children on a nice night, you know let them run around, get tired before bed.”

Cops were scouring surveillance footage in the area as they tracked the shooter down.

Earlier this month in Brooklyn, 7-month-old Kaori was shot by a stray bullet during a botched gang hit as her family ran errands near the corner of Moore and Humboldt Sts. in East Williamsburg. The shot was allegedly fired by Amuri Greene as he rode on the back of a passing moped driven by Matthew Rodriguez.

Greene, 21, broke his leg when the escaping moped crashed and was arrested. Rodriguez, 18, was arrested a few days later in Pennsylvania.

Cops believe Greene was aiming at Kaori’s father, but Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez theories about Greene’s motive, which may have involved a gang rivalry and drill rap lyrics, are contuning to evolve.