Innocent bystander fatally shot in front of Bronx grocery store
FORDHAM, Bronx (WABC) -- Police are searching for the gunman who opened fire in the Bronx, killing an innocent bystander.
The victim, 61-year-old Juana Esperanza Soriano De-Perdomo, was in front of a bodega when she was struck by bullets fired during a dispute down the block.
"She came to the store, tried to open the door," employee Adel Nasser said. "She couldn't and fell down by the store."
Investigators say it started as a fight between two groups on East 188th Street just after 7 p.m. Monday.
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Police say the argument escalated, and at least one person began firing a weapon down the Grand Concourse.
Soriano De-Perdomo was struck in the back, and the mother of two and grandmother of three collapsed. Another man also running from the gunfire stayed with her in the doorway.
Responding officers tried everything, CPR and applying clot bandages to try and stop the bleeding.
Video obtained by Eyewitness News shows medics rushing her to an ambulance, and she was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital, but she did not survive.
De-Perdomo's husband died from COVID-19 back home in the Dominican Republic, and she recently moved to the Fordham section of the Bronx after having lived in NYCHA for some time.
This was suppose to be a new beginning for a woman who dedicated her life to her family.
On a busy corner off the Grand Concourse Tuesday night, as pastors sang hymns, two brothers wept silent, desperate tears for their mother.
"My mother was a beautiful person. She was receiving blessings on blessings on blessings these last couple of months, and it was just taken away, cold hearted no reason, no real reason and she didn't deserve it," the victim's son Eric Soriano De-Perdomo.
"This is a woman that cared for everybody, like for me and my brother, she cared for everybody," Victor Soriano De-Perdomo said.
An eyewitness to the event, Ella, did not want her last name used.
"These were people from the streets just kill her like nothing," she said. "The last bullet hit her, and after that, she just died in front of me."
Ella was standing right next to the victim when the gunfire erupted from down the block and the victim dropped.
"It's crazy," she said. "They just ripped that life away from that lady like nothing. That's the image I'm going to have to live with for the rest of my life."
Police said the investigation is ongoing, and so far, no arrests have been made.
"Another act of senseless violence on the streets of this city, mindless shootings with no thought or fear of the consequences," NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said. "We are focusing all of our resources, putting additional manpower on the street, starting initiatives to be able to target the offenders and address the precursors to violence as well. So we are absolutely focused on curbing the violence in this city and apprehending the offenders who commit it."
Chris Simone was on his fire escape across the street when he heard the shots and saw the victim fall.
"You see a lady laying down, blood everywhere, you see people running out, then you see the cops taking her to a stretcher," Simone said. "This is a crowded area. Bullets don't have names, they just targets."
All of the suspects involved fled on foot, and investigators are looking at surveillance video of the incident and vowing to find this shooter.
"It's sad that it happened just like nothing," Ells said. "They took somebody's life, but what are we going to do? This is New York City. This is what we have, this is what's going on now."
The shooting happened in the 46th Precinct, where the NYPD has deployed one of its new neighborhood safety teams.
"It can be any of you -- anybody you love, anyone you love," the victim's sons said. "Cause I never thought it would happen to my mother."
Anyone with information is urged to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit tips by visiting the CrimeStoppers website at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org or by messaging on Twitter @NYPDTips.
The deadly shooting comes days after another violent incident involving innocent bystanders, when a 12-year-old boy was shot and killed while sitting inside a parked car in Brooklyn.
Mayor Eric Adams met with the family of the 12-year-old boy on Monday just hours before this shooting in the Bronx.
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