Four Bronx youths, including a 12-year-old boy, were recovering Wednesday after a brazen playground shooting that erupted during a basketball game, according to the NY Daily News.
Bullets tore across the crowded courts in Vidalia Park at E. 180th St. and Daly Ave. in West Farms at about 5 p.m. Tuesday, scattering dozens of terrified bystanders and hitting the four victims, one of whom is believed to be the intended target, cops said.
A day after the mayhem, roundball players were out again at the park, where an NYPD mobile command center was stationed.
“Got nowhere else to play,” said Lincoln Dawson, 19, who has played hoops with two of the victims. “There are no gyms out here.”
SAMCOSTANZA/DAILYNEWS
Police officer at the entrance to Vidalia Park on Daly Ave where four youths were shot earlier in the day. All suffered non-life threatening wounds.
Police had made no arrests as of Wednesday afternoon and were hunting for a suspect wearing a green hooded sweatshirt.
Witnesses saw a man in a jeep watching the basketball game at the small park near the Bronx Zoo--which was crowded in the unseasonably warm weather-- before the suspect approached the court and opened fire.
The 12-year-old was hit in the back, cops said.
The gunman also wounded an 18-year-old and two 20-year-olds.
Cops believe he was gunning for one of the older victims.
"The shooter was aiming at somebody but sprayed," a source said.
Witnesses
said the gunman high-tailed it across the park and headed east toward Boston Road.
The victims’ injuries were not life-threatening, police said.
The shooting occurred just one block from where toddler Patience Boyd was hit by a stray bullet last August.
She and a 6-year-old were wounded in the crossfire of shooters settling a drug beef. City Councilman Joel Rivera held an anti-violence rally at E. 181st St. and Daly Ave. following the shooting.
Roselyn Herrera was at the park Wednesday with her 2-year-old son. She hadn’t heard about the previous day’s shooting.
“I rarely bring my kids to this park because it’s dangerous,” she said. “The gunshot could have hit (my son). I’m not coming back.”
Tommy Galarza, 38, was outside the park when the bullets went flying.
"Two guys were carrying another kid who was shot in the leg," said Galarza. "Everyone was running and screaming. Everyone was getting out of there. It happened out of nowhere."
The 12-year-old was taken to Jacobi Medical Center and a 20-year-old hit in the leg was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital.
The older victim was slated to leave St. Barnabas for home Wednesday night, said a hospital spokesman.
The 18-year-old and the other 20-year-old were found with leg wounds after fleeing the park to a nearby building, cops said.
Neighbor Abelardo Figueroa manages a community garden near the park.
"I live two blocks away from the park and it scares me because my grandkids come here on the weekends," said Figueroa, 53.
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