An 11-year-old girl who was caught in the crossfire of a shooting in the Bronx on Monday is recovering from a gunshot wound, police said.
The shooting happened just before 5 p.m. at the intersection of Westchester Avenue and Fox Street in Foxhurst, the NYPD said. Two men on a moped drove by chasing a third man on foot and opened fire, according to a preliminary investigation by the police.
One round struck the 11-year-old, who was standing nearby, in the abdomen, the NYPD said. She was taken to a nearby hospital and remains in critical condition, officials said.
Police were still searching for the suspects on the scooter on Monday evening.
Commanding Officer of Detective Borough Bronx Timothy McCormack called for more governmental support while briefing the media Monday night.
“This is very difficult for us to accept… It is troubling that this is happening in our society today,” McCormack said. “The NYPD, we know how to fight crime. And we’re doing it to the best of our ability. And I think the other parts of the criminal justice system need to step up and take their responsibility for what’s going on.”
The shooting added to a list of similar tragedies throughout the city so far this year, including the shooting death of a 12-year-old boy who was sitting in a parked car in East Flatbush, which occurred nearly one week after a 3-year-old girl was also shot in the arm as she left a daycare in Brownsville.
There have been 495 reports of shooting victims so far this year, NYPD statistics showed. That number was virtually unchanged from records at this point last year, which included 496 shooting victim reports, the NYPD said.
Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS or by visiting the NYPD’s website.
