Police are investigating a shooting in the lobby of a Brooklyn housing development that left a child wounded Tuesday night.
According to authorities, cops responded to a report of gunfire within the Marcus Garvey Houses on Bristol Street in Brownsville at around 9:18 p.m. Jan. 31. Upon arrival, they discovered a 12-year-old boy with a gunshot wound to the left shoulder.
The boy was taken to Maimonides Medical Center in stable condition.
According to NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig, the shooting may have been accident. The chief reveled Wednesday that a group of children were hanging out in the building’s lobby when one of them removed a magazine from a handgun and pointed it at the victim, before firing.
“He takes out the magazine, he fires and according to eyewitnesses, they say: ‘What did you do? What did you do?’” Essig explained. Police also state that they do not believe the incident to be the result of an argument.
One shell casing and a Smith & Wesson firearm were recovered at the scene, cops said.
The investigation remains ongoing.
In Brooklyn’s 73rd Precinct, where the incident occurred, shooting incidents are up 150 percent year-to-date, according to Police Department data. As of Jan. 29, when the most recent data is available, there were five reported shootings in the area since the beginning of 2023 – up from two during the same time frame last year.
Additional reporting by Dean Moses
