Parents give update after young kids narrowly miss gunman's bullets on NYC sidewalk

ByJoe Torres WABC logo

Monday, June 21, 2021

Parents say kids who avoided gunman still bruised, traumatized

(Previous coverage) The parents of two children who ducked for cover as a gunman opened fire inches away say their kids are traumatized

MOUNT EDEN, Bronx (WABC) -- The parents of the two children who somehow avoided injury when a gunman opened fire inches away say their children are traumatized.

Video released last week shows a gunman shooting just inches away from the kids as they cowered on the sidewalk.

Christian walked out of his Bronx apartment on Monday with his 5-year-old son in his arms. They have been inseparable since Thursday's terrifying shooting.

Both Christian and the children's mother, Dayana, asked that their last name not be used.

"The kids have a bunch of bruises," he said. "My daughter can't move her arm. My son has bruises all over. He's traumatized, can't sleep. When he hears a noise, he gets nervous."

The bruises, trauma and nightmares stem from the shooting outside the family's apartment on Sheridan Avenue around 6:45 p.m. last Thursday.

Christian watched from the family's first-floor apartment as the kids went to a deli across the street to buy some candy.

That is when a masked gunman opened fire on a 24-year-old man, hitting him three times in the back and both legs.

As the victim tried to get away, he ran into and knocked down Christian's son and 13-year-old daughter.

Both children somehow escaped unharmed from the harrowing close-range gunfire.

"What happened to me, that my children are alive because of a miracle, thank God, it could happen to any other kid, any other father or mother this situation," Christian said.

The parents made it clear that they do not know the gunman or the victim. And neither do their kids.

"The kids, us, we don't know that person," said their mother Dayana. "They were not with that person."

A police van now sits outside the bodega and fliers are posted asking for the public's help in tracking down the gunman in what police describe as a gang-related shooting.

The parents want the gunman off the street and detectives from the 44th precinct are making progress.

"We do have some good leads," said Chief Rodney Harrison. "We have a couple of people we are looking at. And I'm very positive we will bring the individual who did this shooting to justice very, very soon."

WARNING: The following video is shocking -- everyone involved survived