{"id":232090,"date":"2026-05-14T23:08:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T23:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/232090\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T23:08:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T23:08:12","slug":"grandfather-of-5-year-old-girl-hurt-in-bronx-shooting-says-shell-be-traumatized","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/232090\/","title":{"rendered":"Grandfather of 5-year-old girl hurt in Bronx shooting says “she’ll be traumatized”"},"content":{"rendered":"

A man whose 5-year-old granddaughter was wounded in a shooting in the Bronx fears she may be traumatized after getting caught in the crossfire.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Steven Willis, the girl’s grandfather, said she was recovering Thursday after a bullet grazed her ear when a group opened fire<\/a> on a busy street during rush hour Wednesday in the Longwood section.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“They’re saying she’s going to be OK, you know,” Willis said in a phone interview with CBS News New York. “She’s a beautiful girl, man.”<\/p>\n

Girl was not intended target, sources say<\/p>\n

The NYPD said they’re looking for three men suspected of firing the shots on Southern Boulevard. Sources said two groups were firing at each other and the 5-year-old was not the intended target.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"rozner-5p-pkg-longwood-wcbsht8o-hi-res-still-00-00-4428.jpg<\/p>\n

Police were looking for three suspects after the shooting on Southern Boulevard in Longwood.\u00a0<\/p>\n

CBS News New York<\/p>\n

Willis said his granddaughter is hospitalized in stable condition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“She’s a little girl. She’ll be traumatized by it,” he said.<\/p>\n

New surveillance video of the incident shows people walking along the busy sidewalk, then suddenly looking back and scrambling for cover. What appears to be a group of teens then sprints by, with at least one displaying a gun.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One witness said he ducked between two cars to shield himself from the gunfire. A bullet also struck a deli, shattering its glass window.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“This is what they called ‘red zone.’ This is the belly of the beast,” said Bronx resident Diane Whittington.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Reminder of tragic Brooklyn shooting<\/p>\n

Willis said the Bronx shooting reminded him of the April 1 shooting<\/a> in Brooklyn, where police said 7-month-old Kaori Patterson-Moore<\/a> was shot and killed by a stray bullet.<\/p>\n

Two men ages 18 and 21 were were arrested and charged in the baby’s death<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“These young kids playing with these guns, it’s just crazy,” Willis said. “All these cameras they got, they need to put them to use.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It’s the lack of life … nobody’s safe anymore,” Whittington said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Police said the Longwood shooting remains under investigation.<\/p>\n

Anyone with any information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline at\u00a01-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish,\u00a01-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip\u00a0via their website<\/a>\u00a0or via DM on Twitter,\u00a0@NYPDTips<\/a>. All calls are kept confidential.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n More from CBS News\n <\/p>\n