Scooter passenger fatally shoots 11-year-old girl in the Bronx: NYPD
LONGWOOD, the Bronx (PIX11) --- A passenger on a scooter shot and killed an 11-year-old girl in the Bronx on Monday evening, police said.
Officers were dispatched to Westchester Avenue and Fox Street around 4:50 p.m., officials said. They found the girl with a gunshot wound to the abdomen. She was rushed to the hospital, where she died hours after the attack.
"This is very, very difficult for us to accept," Deputy Chief Timothy McCormack, commanding officer of Detective Bureau Bronx, said. "This is the second child that's shot in this borough this year, an 11 month old and now an 11 year old. It is troubling that this is happening in our society today. The NYPD, we know how to fight crime and we're doing it to the best of our ability. And I think the other part's of the criminal justice system need to step up and take their responsibility for what's going on."
The girl was not the intended target of the shooting, police said. A man running down Fox Street was being chased by two people on a scooter. They passed the man when he ducked into a building.
He then doubled back on Fox toward Westchester Avenue, police said. The passenger on the scooter opened fire, hitting the 11-year-old girl. The girl was walking into a store with a family member when she was shot, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson said.
"Praying for the medical team. Please bring her healing and strength," she tweeted. "HORRIBLE. Here we go again. More shootings. More innocent people."
Police have not yet released additional details. The NYPD asked for help identifying both the intended target of the shooting and the people on the scooter.
"We will chase the shooter as far as it goes," McCormack said.
Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).