Police are looking for a man who shot and killed a 41-year-old father of seven after an argument on an MTA bus in the Bronx Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n
The victim, identified by his family as Jonathan Pettigrew, was on a BX36 bus near East Tremont Avenue and White Plains Road in Van Nest when he was shot in the abdomen by an unidentified assailant around 2:30 p.m., the NYPD said.<\/p>\n
Officials said the two men had some sort of dispute that led to the gunfire, though it was unclear what they were arguing about. First responders took Pettigrew to Jacobi Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u200aRight now it’s just hard for me to believe what’s going on because I’m really, like, in a state of shock,\u201d said Avery Pettigrew, Jonathan\u2019s older brother.<\/p>\n
Pettigrew told Gothamist that Jonathan was taking the bus from the restaurant where he worked to pick up his 4-year-old daughter from daycare. He wasn\u2019t sure exactly what happened, but said he had seen news reports that a dispute started when Jonathan scolded the suspect for speaking too loudly on the phone. Police officials would not immediately confirm that version of events and said they were still investigating.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u200aHe got this anxiety where he, like me, we can’t be around a lot of noise,\u201d Avery Pettigrew said. \u201cSo, I guess the person that was on the phone was being very disrespectful and loud, and it was bothering him.\u201d<\/p>\n
The suspect, who police say was wearing a white shirt at the time, fled south on White Plains Road, officials said.<\/p>\n
Avery Pettigrew said his brother was a hard worker who was just starting to move forward with his dreams of a rap career. He was a father to seven kids \u2013 though only the 4-year-old girl lived with him. He also said Jonathan was an avid sports fan, and had been planning to tune into Monday night\u2019s Knicks game.<\/p>\n
Shootings in transit are rare, especially on MTA buses. Last month, a stray bullet flew<\/a> through a bus in East New York, Brooklyn, but no one was hurt. A 16-year-old boy was fatally shot while getting off a city bus<\/a> in Queens last year.<\/p>\n