Mother speaks out after 8-year-old boy shot while walking with grandma in Mott Haven
MOTT HAVEN, Bronx (WABC) -- The mother of an 8-year-old boy who was shot while walking with his grandmother in the Bronx Tuesday evening is speaking out after the frightening ordeal.
The victim's relieved mother spoke from her son's bedside in Lincoln Hospital where her 8-year-old is recovering from a gunshot wound.
Officials say gunfire broke out just after 5 p.m. on Beekman Avenue in the Mott Haven section.
The woman, who did not want her family identified, told Eyewitness News that her son was shot when two men tried to rob another person on Beekman Avenue.
"The young man they were trying to rob had got away and they started shooting at him, but the direction that he ran was the same direction that my son and my mother was walking," the mother said.
The boy had just been greeted off the school bus by his grandmother who threw herself on top of the second grader in an attempt to protect him.
The boy was shot in the thigh, authorities said.
"They grabbed the baby, and then everyone just dissipated. With bullets, no one waits, you know?" said Alejandrina Brioso, a neighbor.
Officers arrived at the scene quickly and two suspects were taken into custody. They recovered one gun.
Police say one of them, 27-year-old Joshua Brooks, has been charged with attempted murder, assault, and other related charges. The other man, whose identity has not been released, is charged with crimes unrelated to this shooting, authorities said.
Surveillance video shows one of the men firing at an unknown target on the block.
The boy remains in stable with the bullet still lodged in his thigh.
"My baby is super, super tough and in very good spirits, he's talking to everybody, he's actually describing and telling the story of what happened to detectives and stuff, but he's really ok," the mother said.
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The gun violence in broad daylight was upsetting to those in the neighborhood, especially parents.
"It wasn't just this one child that was coming home," resident Charmaine Romaine said. "There's a school back there, there's actually two schools in that building, there's a school right down there. This was dismissal time. I don't understand what people are thinking."
Brioso says this neighborhood is no stranger to gun violence, although shootings are down 44% in the 40th precinct.
NYPD data reveals the number of people shot was cut by more than half from this time last year.
Police have not said what led up to the shooting or who they believe was the intended target.
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