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<\/p>\nA 12-year-old was fatally shot while riding his bike outside a Bronx bodega, authorities in New York City announced on Sunday, July 26, in what city leaders called a senseless act of violence.<\/p>\n
The child, identified as Jacob Freytes, was killed after a man opened fire on a Bronx street in broad daylight a day earlier in the city’s Mt. Eden neighborhood, the New York Police Department told USA TODAY. The shooting, which occurred just before 5 p.m. ET local time, also wounded two others: a 25-year-old man who was shot in the buttocks and a 34-year-old man who was shot in the foot, police said.<\/p>\n
The boy was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. The two other men were also hospitalized and are expected to survive, police said.<\/p>\n
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Members of the NYPD Crime Scene Unit work the scene and place down evidence markers to highlight shell casings where a 12-year-old boy was killed, and two men were injured in a shooting outside a supermarket deli in the Bronx, New York, on July 25, 2026.<\/p>\n
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced the arrest of William Ferrer in connection with the triple shooting. Ferrer, 45, of the Bronx, was arrested by detectives outside his home Sunday morning.<\/p>\n
He faces charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter, attempted murder, assault, and criminal possession of a weapon, the commissioner said.<\/p>\n
Tisch said it did not appear the boy was the intended target of gunfire.<\/p>\n
“Jacob was an innocent bystander on his bike when he was taken from his family yesterday in an act of senseless gun violence,” Tisch wrote<\/a> on X. “No arrest can ever ease the pain of this unimaginable loss, but the NYPD will continue to do everything in our power to seek justice for Jacob.”<\/p>\n Photos taken from the scene show investigators placing yellow evidence markers outside the bodega and a black-and-silver bicycle on the ground.<\/p>\n She survived being shot in the face. Then came nearly 40 surgeries.<\/a><\/p>\n Members of the NYPD Crime Scene Unit work the scene and place down evidence markers to highlight shell casings where a 12-year-old boy was killed, and two men were injured in a shooting outside a bodega in the Bronx, New York, on July 25, 2026.<\/p>\n NYC Mayor Mamdani: ‘We cannot accept this violence as normal’<\/p>\n Local leaders, including New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani,\u00a0denounced the violence on social media.<\/p>\n “Our children should be able to ride their bikes on a nice summer day in their neighborhood without fear of being shot. We cannot accept this violence as normal,” Mamdani said in a post on X<\/a>. “My heart breaks for his family, friends and all those who loved him. Their loss is unimaginable. I am praying for the speedy recovery of the other two victims of this shooting.”<\/p>\n “Just an imaginable pain,” Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson said in a video posted on X.<\/a> “I’m disgusted… it is unacceptable that we continue to see violence in our neighborhood that takes away our babies… we’ve got to find better ways to address conflict.”<\/p>\n Anyone with any information is asked to call NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline at\u00a01-800-577-TIPS (8477). People can also submit a tip\u00a0on this website<\/a>.<\/p>\n Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.<\/p>\n![\"Members](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/usa_today_news_641\/a430444959ccbcd8bc3721183bb9292f.jpeg\"\/)
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