The incident happened shortly after 4 p.m. at 1925 Stuart Street, prompting a lockdown at the neighboring Marine Park junior high school.
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The victim was taken to Brookdale Hospital, where she's listed in critical condition.
Police are looking into whether the victim suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound. They are looking into both witness accounts and evidence as they continue to investigate.
A man, who police believe is the father of the woman's child, drove away with the kid after the shooting.
Police later caught up with him and took him into custody. Right now, he's considered a person of interest and no charges have been filed.
The child was unharmed during the incident.
However, inside the school, dozens of frightened students like 12-year-old Kamiyah Marrero had to stay in the auditorium.
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"It was scary because it's like shocking that they would do that in front of my school," Marrero said.
The seventh grader, who heard the gunshot, was brought to tears while expressing to her mom that she didn't feel safe.
"It's scary as a mom, you know you send your kids to school and you know, you don't expect nothing like this to happen," mother Iheishah Civil said.
A crowd of parents grew outside during what was supposed to be a smooth first day of the afterschool program at J.H.S. 278 Marine Park.
Jetta Bonds received an automated call from the school, saying that there was a shooting and students were safe inside.
"You see the tape everywhere. I'm like what happened and I'm texting my son and he didn't respond, I got nervous," Bonds said.
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The Department of Education released a statement in response to the incident.
"The safety of our students is our absolute top priority. Following an off-campus non-school related incident in the community, this school went into a shelter-in, which has now been lifted," the statement said.
As parents anxiously waited, detectives combed the scene.
Students were eventually released to relieved parents, in the dark, several hours after their scheduled pick-up time.
Eyewitness News reporter Chantee Lans ran into Marrero, who was reunited with her mother.
"I feel very happy because I'm out this building, my building right there and because I'm just happy I'm going home," she said.
The investigation is ongoing.
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