A seven-month-old girl was shot and killed while sitting in her pushchair in broad daylight in New York City, police have said.
Police believe the baby was the unintended victim of a suspected gang-related shooting.
Footage from the scene shows two men on a motorcycle riding against the flow of traffic through the Williamsburg neighbourhood of Brooklyn when a man on the back of the vehicle takes out a gun and fires at least two rounds, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told a news conference.
The bike then crashed and the suspected shooter was apprehended, but a massive manhunt was under way for the driver, she said.
A life that had barely begun was taken in an instant, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said, highlighting the urgent need to combat gun violence.
Several adults and children were present on a street corner when the shooting occurred. The seven-month-old's parents sought refuge in a nearby shop, where they soon realized their child had been injured. Eyewitness Bernius Maldonado recounted the chaos, saying, All the kids started ducking in the corner. The family went to the store and the mom started screaming when she noticed the baby was bleeding from [her] head.
Emergency services were called, and the child was taken to nearby Woodhull Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Investigators noted that both suspects were ejected from the moped during their escape and that one was caught following the incident. No charges have been filed in connection to the baby’s death.
This tragic event serves as a grim reminder of the pervasive issue of gun violence in urban areas, with officials and community leaders calling for more effective measures to prevent such incidents in the future.
