Stray Bullet Shooting: Teen Taken Off Ventilator, True Target Talks

Vada Vasquez, the 15-year-old Bronx student who was shot in the head Monday afternoon by suspects targeting someone else, was taken off her ventilator and remains in critical condition. The intended target spoke to the Daily News, "I'm so sad about what happened to her. I feel terrible. She's innocent, like I'm innocent."

Police suspect that five people—Carvett Gentles, Rohan Francis, Dwayne Taylor, Clivie Smith, and Cleve Smith, ages 16-20—were aiming at Tyrone Creighton, to seek revenge for an incident at Rikers Island where his brothers allegedly attacked another inmate. Creighton tells the News that Clivie Smith approached him, "He said, 'Whatever happened between my man and your brothers, let's [settle] it.' I didn't know what he was talking about." Eventually, a gun was handed off to Gentles, a 16-year-old who did not have a criminal record, who allegedly fired five times at Creighton, hitting him in the lung. Another shot hit Vasquez, who was on the sidewalk with friends. Creighton added, "I'm angry people tried to make me feel like it's my fault. I don't know why these guys did this to me."

The five suspects have pleaded not guilty. Clivie Smith told the Post the cops were "crooked, crooked, crooked," and trying to frame him because of a "beef," pointing out that the police didn't find a gun. He added that being held at Rikers is "like having the worst migraine you can ever have."