Police are investigating after a man was fatally shot near a day care in the Bronx on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The victim, identified as Bronx resident Lamar Simmons, was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital in critical condition, where he later died from his injuries.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Residents say the neighborhood is no stranger to violence.<\/p>\n
“It’s scary. Especially because it’s a day care. My baby is about to be one,” said a resident named Kiara.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
“We don’t know. We’re still trying to answer questions we can’t even answer right now,” said the victim’s father.<\/p>\n
The victim’s sister said her brother was a “smart kid.”<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Police are looking for three men wearing hoodies who fled the scene on a scooter.<\/p>\n
No arrests have been made, and the investigation is ongoing.<\/p>\n
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