Vigil held for grandmother hit by stray bullet in East Flatbush

Jim Dolan Image
Thursday, April 7, 2016
Grandmother seriously hurt by stray bullet in East Flatbush
Jim Dolan has the story.

EAST FLATBUSH, Brooklyn (WABC) -- There were prayers and anger in Brooklyn Wednesday night for two people shot while just looking out their window.

Stray bullets flew into the second floor apartment this week hitting a woman right above her eye.

The other bullet grazed a man on the top of his head.

"If you live out here, you should be out here," a resident said.

In East Flatbush Wednesday night, people were angry.

"Y 'all gangsters, right? Y 'all murders, right?" a resident said.

They are angry that a grandmother, 61-year-old Lorita Pierre, sitting in her own home, was hit with a stray bullet in the middle of the afternoon on Monday.

"She was doing her grandma duties in the kitchen. She knew that she was in her house there was no reason for her to feel unsafe. It wasn't as though she was out on the street, and for something like this to happen, it's going to change her outlook on life," said Josh Pierre, the victim's son.

"We have to hold each other accountable out here. It doesn't take anything to take a life," a resident said.

Wednesday night, some members of the community came to pray for Mrs. Pierre, but more than that, they want the violence to stop.

"We do it also to reach out to those who are involved in that lifestyle who doesn't think that there's a way out, right. It's popular to be violent," said Shanduke McPhatter, an activist.

Mrs. Pierre was struck in the head hit above her right eye, but will survive, though she may lose some eyesight.

"We have so many problems out here. Access to a gun, the quick use of a gun, can't even aim the gun, like everything just went so wrong," said New York City Councilman Jumani Williams, (D) East Flatbush.

"I have a number of emotions right now, and some of it is anger, some of it is that I'm thankful that my mom is alive. I don't want to sink into that feeling of being vengeful or anything like that," Pierre said.