A seven-month-old girl was shot and killed while sitting in her pushchair in broad daylight in the Williamsburg neighborhood of New York City's borough of Brooklyn. Police stated that the baby was the unintended victim of a suspected gang-related shooting.
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told a news conference that footage from the scene shows two men driving a moped against the flow of traffic, with a man on the back taking out a gun and firing "at least two rounds." The moped then crashed, and the suspected shooter was apprehended, but a "massive" manhunt is underway for the driver.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said, "A life that had barely begun was taken in an instant. Today is a devastating reminder of how much more work there is to be done to combat gun violence across this city." Several adults and children, two of whom were in buggies, had been on a street corner when the shooting occurred.
According to the BBC's US partner CBS, the seven-month-old's parents ran for cover in a nearby corner shop, where they realized their child had been shot. Witness Bernius Maldonado told CBS, "All the kids started ducking in the corner. The family went to the store and the mom started screaming when she noticed the baby was bleeding from [her] head."
Emergency services were called at around 13:21 local time (17:21 GMT). The child was taken to the nearby Woodhull Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Police reported no other people killed or injured in the incident. Tisch added, "As a mother, I cannot imagine the pain that this family is feeling or the grief that they now carry with them. It is unspeakable."
Footage seen by police showed the suspects crashing into a car shortly after fleeing the scene. Both suspects were thrown from the moped—with the rear passenger landing so hard he lost "both of his shoes." An ambulance was called for the injured male, and he was brought to Brooklyn Hospital, where he was then taken into police custody.
Investigators believe he fits the description of the shooter based on the clothing he was wearing and his appearance, but he was taken into custody as part of an unrelated investigation. Police are working to connect him to the shooting.
Source: www.bbc.com