A baby was killed in an apparent stray-bullet shooting in Brooklyn on Wednesday, police said.
A manhunt is currently underway for two suspects who fled the scene in East Williamsburg on a moped.
“A life that had barely begun was taken in an instant,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said at an early evening press conference. “As we grieve this loss, I am grateful for the NYPD’s continued work to find all those responsible for this murder, and to bring them to justice.”
Here’s what we know
The child, approximately 7 months old, was being pushed in a stroller at Moore and Humboldt streets just after 1:15 p.m., when she suffered a gunshot wound to the head, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
After hearing the shots, the child’s mother ducked into a nearby bodega, where she noticed the little girl bleeding. Her father then ran the child to Woodhull Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, police sources said.
“I thought it was fireworks, but then they hit me on my leg. I got little metal pieces in my leg,” one witness said. “The family went to the store and the mom started screaming. The baby looked lifeless the father picked up the baby and ran to the hospital.”
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The NYPD is currently looking for two men who were riding a scooter near the scene and fled up Humboldt.
“As they approach the intersection of Moore Street, the male sitting at the rear of the moped can be seen taking out a gun and discharging at least two rounds towards the southwest corner. On that corner were several adults, as well as two strollers and several children standing nearby,” Tisch said.
Investigators have since recovered video showing the suspects driving their moped out of 24 Humboldt St., just minutes prior to the shooting, Tisch said.
The driver was said to have dreadlocks and was wearing a light-colored sweatshirt. His passenger was wearing a dark-colored sweatshirt.
Police said that same moped was believed to have be found abandoned about five blocks west of the shooting scene a short time later.
“We cannot accept this as normal”
Mamdani and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch addressed the shooting at a Wednesday evening press conference.
“There are no words that can mend the heartbreak this family is feeling now, no declaration strong enough to lift the grief they are now forced to carry, no embrace wide enough to heal the hole that has been left in their lives,” Mamdani said. “That sorrow is only deepened by the fact that is not the first family in our city to know this pain. Too many children have never grown up into becoming adults. Too many parents have had to bury those that they love the most.
“We cannot accept this as normal in our city. We cannot grow numb to this pain. And today is a devastating reminder of just how much more work there is to be done to combat gun violence across the city,” Mamdani added.
City Councilmember Jenifer Gutierrez, who represents East Williamsburg and nearby neighborhoods, wrote on social media, in part, “My heart is broken. A 7-month-old baby was shot. No parent should ever live this nightmare. No block should feel like this. We owe every family in our district real safety.”
Anyone with any information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or via DM on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.
Please stay with CBS News New York for more on this developing story.