A 13-year-old boy was hit by a stray bullet on his way to a park to pick up his siblings in the Bronx Monday evening, law enforcement sources and relatives said.
Then two NYPD cops were injured in a crash on the way to the scene, cops and sources added.
The teen was nicked in the head as shots rang out around 7 p.m. on the grounds of NYCHA’s Morrisania Houses on East 169th Street near Park Avenue, authorities said.
He was about to pick up his two younger siblings – both under 4-years old, according to a woman named Joy who is the boy’s cousin, but said the kids consider her an aunt.
The teen was also supposed to pick up Joy’s son, the woman said Tuesday afternoon.
“He was going to pick up my son in the park,” Joy said. “He was playing in the park with another kid. He never made it to them.
“They got to him after he was shot,” she added. “It could have been my son because my son was in the park.”
The boy, who did not appear to be the intended target, claimed he was walking when he heard a long bang, the sources said.
He felt something warm run down his face, and a burst of pain, the sources said.
He was taken to Lincoln Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.
“My nephew is all right, he’s all right,” the boy’s aunt said. “I’ve spoken to him. The bullet grazed the top of his head.”
“These kids don’t know the streets,” she added. “They are dangerous. They think guns are cute.”
No arrests have been made in connection to the violence.
A marked NYPD cruiser was responding to that scene when it swerved to avoid an uninvolved vehicle and slammed into a gate about a half-mile away on Webster Avenue near East 165th Street, cops said.
Both officers were taken to Lincoln Medical Center, where they were listed in stable condition.
The teen is the latest young victim in a rash of citywide violence that began earlier this month in which two teenagers were killed and at least six others were wounded.
