Gunfire Grazes Child, Police Look For Shooter

Just a few days after a 16-year-old Flatbush resident died after being shot in the head when looking out his window, a 3-year-old girl was grazed by a bullet after buying candy with family and friends.

Jayla McLean is doing okay, but it's depressing that there are photographs of her wound at all. She was at the Kingsborough Housing Projects in Bed-Stuy to visit her great-grandmother when two groups of men got into an argument and bullets starting flying. Her mother, a state employee, told the Post she was relieved that Jayla is all right but "somebody needs to do something about it, or else another child will get hit. We worry about the war in Iraq, but we've got a war here in the projects."

Police are looking for a suspect, 25-year-old Devon Baker, who has five prior arrests. The Daily News has a map showing six recent incidents of children being caught in the crossfire - and it turns out that the NYPD doesn't release statistics about people caught in the crossfire of gunfights. Yesterday, the Reverend Jesse Jackson spoke about getting guns off the streets of Newark, and illegal guns remains a very big issue for Mayor Bloomberg.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on October 15, 2007 9:32 AM

Comments [rss]

JRod5417

That's really sad news about the 16 year old boy in Bushwick. My condolences to his family.

JMZ

To #2:

FYI the Kingsborough Houses are on Sheffield Ave. well inside of the Brownsville/East NY borders

ed_Extinct

where's al sharpton when you need him to condemn these acts of violence and get into the communities to help the people who need the help the most.

if only he would cause such a stir as he does when "white" cops do wrong. this makes me respect him much less.

virgil

Nick, if one were criticizing the band in the form of a song, that comparison might work.

I come here to find out news about the city, not to proofread.

There are a lot of errors on ths site, and they don't bother me a bit, as long as the facts and meaning are there. In fact, the mistakes can be pretty funny, and are more than made up for by the range of interests covered by the writers.

There are some commenters who will point out mistakes clearly and calmly. But there are several who use it as an opportunity to make self righteous, petty, and personal attacks. It's my sworn duty to make fun of these people as much as possible, because they're not only being annoying, but hypocritical.

What make you think you have any say over what is or is not a problem here? It's not the New York Times; it's a blog, and it's not yours. If people don't like Gothamist, it will fail; if they succeed, it will be because people like it in spite of the errors.

Lighten up, leave, start your own blog, or stay here and nitpick. I can't force you, just as I can't force Gothamist to be perfect. And neither can you. And that's the way I like it.

jimmylegs

actually, the 16 year old shooting victim was in Bushwick, though i wouldn't be surprised if somebody got shot in Flatbush too.

Nick S

stop defending gothamist's shoddy proofreading by pointing out errors with a comment. that's like if someone criticizes a band you like and you counter with "i'm sure your band is much better"

the proofreading on gothamist is a problem. it has been from the start. just because a guest commenter has equally bad editing skills does not make it OK.

virgil

There really was a comment before mine. I swear. Now my comment just makes me look deranged. No fair.

Rocknrope

So much for Bed-Stuy gentrification...

virgil

Guest #1, you should have a colon instead of a period after the word "sentence"; otherwise all you have there is a fallacious proposition. As someone in a position to criticize the writing of others, I'm sure you knew that.