NYPD detectives on Thursday released a surveillance image of the suspect wanted for shooting and wounding a 14-year-old boy in front of the teen’s horrified family.
The gunman was standing by a bus stop, lying in wait for his victim, before walking over and opening fire just as the victim’s father was putting the boy’s younger sister into the family car, the boy’s older sister told the Daily News.
The father was about to drive the siblings to school.
The victim had just left his apartment in NYCHA’s Soundview Houses on Rosedale Ave. near Seward Ave. with his dad and sibling when shots rang out about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday.
The teen was seated in the car, which was parked across the street from their apartment building, when the gunman, who was dressed all in black and wearing a black ski mask, fired off several rounds, striking him in the left thigh.
Police investigate bullet holes in a car after a 14-year-old was shot on Rosedale Ave. in the Soundview on Wednesday. (Gardiner Anderson / New York Daily News)
“My dad was putting my sister in the car when the guy walked up,” the victim’s older sister, who wished not to be named, told the Daily News Wednesday. “They waited until my dad turned his back. It was like someone was waiting and watching.”
Cops released a surveillance image of the gunman before the shooting without the ski mask in the hopes someone recognizes him.
Police sources said the teenage victim, who is affiliated with a local gang, was the intended target of the shooter. It was at least the second time in two weeks someone under 18 has been hit by gunfire in the city, police said.
Police investigate after a 14-year-old was shot on Rosedale Ave. in the Soundview on Wednesday. (Gardiner Anderson / New York Daily News)
Medics rushed the teen to Jacobi Medical Center. He is expected to recover.
The shooting is believed to be linked to gang activity in the neighborhood, a police source said. The teen was arrested in December for carrying a loaded firearm, according to the source.
Police are asking anyone with information on the suspect to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.