16-year-old boy fatally shot in Harlem, police search for 2 gunmen on scooters
HARLEM, Manhattan (WABC) -- A 16-year-old boy was killed by gunfire in Harlem early Thursday morning that also shattered the window of a passing livery vehicle.
Clarence Jones was shot in the chest at West 124th Street and Lenox Avenue just after 1:35 a.m.
He was rushed to Harlem Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The front passenger window of a livery vehicle was shattered by gunfire.
The driver, apparently passing by the shooting, kept driving south to West 116th Street and Lenox, where he pulled over and was checked out by responding ambulance workers. He did not appear struck by the gunfire.
Two suspects fled west on West 125th Street on Razor scooters. Three shell casings were recovered at the scene by police.
Jones' father was so distraught, that he pounded his fist on the ambulance and then collapsed in the street in shock over the murder of his 16-year-old son.
Police are still investigating the motive of the shooting.
So far, there are no arrests.
On Monday, a 15-year-old girl was wounded by a stray bullet in the Bronx.
Last month, a 17-year-old was wounded in Hell's Kitchen.
Mayor Adams pointed out that the murders and shootings are down citywide this year.
"Not only are we the safest big city in America, but when you look at the work we have done, it shows that we're moving in the right direction," Adams said.
But this latest murder is the 5th in this Harlem neighborhood, an increase of 66 percent over last year. There have been at least 12 shootings so far, an increase of 50 percent.
"It's something that I'm very concerned about, about random shots," a Harlem resident said.
People said the risk is real.
"I try to look where I'm going, look around me, you know, try to be more aware of my surroundings and look where I'm going," a resident said.
"We have to be careful of where we stand, where we-where we are. These kids are running wild," another resident said.
"If we don't get together as a community and say enough is enough and tell on where these guns are coming from, our kids going to constantly kill each other," Harlem anti-violence activist Jackie Rowe-Adams said.
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