The 12-year-old son of a retired NYPD sergeant happily shook his neighbor\u2019s hand before hopping on his bike to pedal to the bodega where he was fatally shot \u2014 the innocent victim of a possible gang beef, the resident and law-enforcement sources said Sunday.<\/p>\n
Tragic Jacob Freytas was struck by a stray bullet during the senseless shootout in a gang-infested area of The\u00a0 Bronx on Saturday, leaving his family and neighbors distraught over the loss of the bubbly boy.<\/p>\n
\u201cEspecially his mom \u2014 she\u2019s devastated,\u2019\u2019 grieving neighbor Walter Calon said Sunday.<\/p>\n
Jacob Freytas was struck by a stray bullet during the senseless shootout in a gang-infested area of The\u00a0Bronx. United Bodegas of America<\/p>\n
He rushed into the bodega clutching his chest after being shot, where he succumbed to his injuries. United Bodegas of America<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw him just before he left,\u201d Calon recalled of Jacob. \u201cI shook his hand and said, \u2018Look out for your little brother and sister.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201c And then less than a half-hour later, I got a call from my mom and I just dropped the phone right out of my hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cI ran back and everybody in front of the building was crying,\u201d said Calon, 56. \u201cEverybody on the block was crying.\u201d<\/p>\n
Freyas, 12, was the son of a retired NYPD sergeant. Facbook\/El Nene Kai<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw him just before he left,\u201d grieving neighbor Walter Calon recalled. \u201cI shook his hand and said, \u2018Look out for your little brother and sister.\u2019 Tomas E. Gaston for NY Post<\/p>\n
Jacob had pedaled to Wanda Deli Grocery at Elliott Place near the Grand Concourse shortly before 5 p.m. when he was fatally struck by a stray bullet as a possible gangbanger opened fire at rivals, sources said.<\/p>\n
The Mount Eden neighborhood is known territory for the violent Trinitarios and Sev Side Pinni street gangs, and sources said police are probing if the crews were behind the shooting.<\/p>\n
The suspected gunman got into a dispute with another group outside the bodega, with the beef escalating when the shooter pulled a gun and opened fire, sources said.<\/p>\n
Police outside the bodega where the shooting took place. Tomas E. Gaston for NY Post<\/p>\n
An officer at the scene examines a shell casing after the deadly shooting. Tomas E. Gaston for NY Post<\/p>\n
Heartbreaking security footage shows the youngster stumbling back into the shop clutching his chest before he collapses.<\/p>\n
The tragic youngster\u2019s father is retired NYPD Sgt. Jesus Freytes, who worked in The Bronx,\u00a0 sources said.<\/p>\n
The shooting, which also left two combatants wounded, devastated the young victim\u2019s family, with his mom so distraught that neighbors said she was staying at a local hotel because she could not bear the pain of being home.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s not OK,\u201d Jacob\u2019s aunt sobbed. \u201cShe can\u2019t come down here. She can\u2019t, I\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sources said police have a person of interest in custody, but no charges have been filed and police are trying to determine what sparked the bloodshed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was a bright kid,\u201d Calon said of Jacob. \u201cHe\u2019s a good kid. He always saluted me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe played sports, he\u2019s always playing here in the front court. I\u2019ve known him for 10 of his 12 years. I saw him grow up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t understand,\u201d he added. \u201cI\u2019m feeling for the family right now, especially his mom.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 12-year-old son of a retired NYPD sergeant happily shook his neighbor\u2019s hand before hopping on his bike…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306023,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,57,9,24,63,103,3980,129,131,130,58],"class_list":["post-306022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-nypd","tag-shootings","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306022\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}