Search for more suspects in fatal shooting of 61-year-old Harlem woman; Adams to destroy guns
HARLEM, Manhattan (WABC) -- An active search is underway on Thursday for the gunman who pulled the trigger, claiming the life of a beloved community fixture in Harlem.
Excenia Mette, 61, was shot in the head Tuesday night.
Dozens of candles burn bright in the dark footsteps away from where bullets flew.
They are a reminder of the violence that exploded on the Harlem woman's doorstep.
Family members say Mette had been cleaning up at the deli she helped out at on 113th and Lenox Avenue around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Worried her grandson was involved, she went outside to make sure everything was OK, and that's when she was shot in the head. Her life was cut tragically short.
Police have charged 23-year-old Darious Smith who was shot in the left foot with attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
Police believe he is one of the three people involved in the violence that stemmed from a dispute, and opened fire first.
Mayor Eric Adams says Smith was arrested in a double stabbing last year.
The victim's grandson, who had been inside his late grandmother's apartment when shots were fired, takes us back to that night.
I was about to go to the movies, and my cousin took longer than I expected. And I went upstairs to wait, and I waited," he said. "She treated everyone in this corner like they were hers."
Right now, the gunman who fired the bullet that killed Mette is still at large.
On the heels of this fatal incident, Mayor Adams will go to a facility with families impacted by gun violence to destroy 3,500 guns that were taken off the streets of New York City.
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