The number of kids pulling the trigger in shootings in the city has skyrocketed 133% in the nine-year span since a lefty Albany law gave young offenders carte blanche to run amok, NYPD data obtained by The Post show.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fifty-six children have been arrested or identified as suspects in shootings so far this year, more than twice as many at the same point in 2017 when there were 24, the data show.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The only time the number of teens arrested for shootings was higher was in 2021 when there were 57 and 2022 when there were 76, the data shows.<\/p>\n
A 17-year-old was arrested for firing a burst of gunfire in Times Square last month. Robert Miller for NY Post<\/p>\n
The controversial law, called Raise the Age, signed by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo<\/a> in 2017 and later backed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, bumped up the age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 18, and allowed suspects as old as 21 to be housed in juvenile detention facilities rather than in adult jails.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAll these people are being treated like juveniles, and they\u2019re going to family court, and they\u2019re probably being released,\u201d said John Jay College of Criminal Justice <\/a>adjunct professor Michael Alcazar, a former NYPD detective. \u201cSo the punishment isn\u2019t being equated with the crime.\u201d<\/p>\n NYPD Commissioner Tisch announced stunning statistics last week showing that the number of shootings being pinned on teens has increased to 21% from 19% at this time last year even as overall crime has dropped.<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately, each year the percentage of those shooting incidents that are committed by kids, people under the age of 18, continues to rise<\/a>,\u201d said Tisch.<\/p>\n Teen shootings have happened across the city, with one sending Times Square tourists scrambling on June 19 when a 17-year-old fired a gun in broad daylight <\/a>at West 44th Street and Broadway.<\/p>\n The young suspect, whose name wasn\u2019t publicly released because he\u2019s underage, was swiftly captured by cops, and a Glock pistol was recovered, law-enforcement sources said.\u00a0He was charged with attempted murder, assault and weapon possession.<\/p>\n The gunfire sent people in the crowded area running for their lives. X\/@RapidReport2025<\/p>\n The teen was arrested quickly and police belive the shots may have been gang related. X\/@RapidReport2025<\/p>\n Investigators were probing whether the gunfire stemmed from a bitter gang rivalry, according to the sources. It wasn\u2019t clear if he was sent to a juvenile detention facility or released.<\/p>\n In another disturbing incident, a 15-year-old boy was shot and left paralyzed from the waist down on a rush-hour subway<\/a> in Queens.<\/p>\n