Teen Gunman Who Fired Into Crowd on NYC Sidewalk Arrested
The gunman seen on video firing shots into a crowd on a Bronx sidewalk as a child wearing a backpack walked nearby and as other terrified bystanders rushed to take cover was arrested, police announced Friday afternoon.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea said that a 16-year-old Edgar Garcia is in custody in connection to the incident and it is expected he will be charged as an adult.
Although the incident is still being investigated, Shea said police believe the motive is gang-related.
It is unknown if an attorney was retained who could comment on the teen’s behalf.
The shooting took place round 2 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 22 when the suspect walked up to a 19-year-old man walking with a group of four other people in front of 115 Gerard Ave. in Concourse a and fired three rounds, police said.
No one was hit, but the gunshots sent the crowd into a panic.
Video shows the crowd dispersing and fleeing immediately as the gunman fired; a child wearing a backpack was walking just ahead of the crowd and also suddenly turned and fled.
Additional scenes shows a young girl in pink leggings and a backpack rush down an alleyway and up a flight of stairs to a landing outside an apartment building after the gunman, standing mere feet from her, fires the shots.
Another woman flees up the stairs and comforts the trembling, crying girl, video shows. Someone in the apartment building eventually lets the girl and the woman inside.
Community members were outraged after the shooting.
“My heart dropped when I saw the little girl running for her life,” community activist Awilda Cordero told News 4. “She was so smart, because she saw him shooting, and the first thing she did, she turned around and just started running.”
“She shouldn’t be experiencing something like that, that’s scary right there,” said resident Sergio Lopez.
Shea said that the investigation by detectives and citizen tips lead police to the alleged gunman.
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