Detectives on the Upper East Side continue to search for the shooter who gunned down a young mom as she walked with her baby on Wednesday night.
Police said the bloodshed occurred at about 8:23 p.m. on June 29 near the corner of Lexington Avenue and East 95th Street.
According to Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell, 20-year-old Azsia Johnson of Staten Island was pushing her 3-month-old child in a stroller through the area when the suspect — a man wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and black sweatpants — walked up from behind and opened fire at close range.
Sewell did not provide details as to the possible motive for the shooting, or if Johnson had previously known her killer.
After firing the deadly shot, the commissioner noted said, the gunman fled the scene on foot eastbound along East 95th Street.
Officers from the 19th Precinct, in responding to a 911 call about the shots fired, discovered the unconscious Johnson and the child, still in the stroller but unharmed.
EMS rushed Johnson to Metropolitan Hospital, where she died a short time later.
The unharmed infant was taken to a local hospital for a medical evaluation as a precaution, officials noted.
So far, no arrests have been made in the ongoing investigation, police said.
Wednesday’s shooting happened hours after the city stepped up its war on guns by suing online retailers selling “ghost guns” on the internet. Mayor Eric Adams had announced the lawsuit at a morning press conference with state Attorney General Letitia James, and then hours later, hizzoner met with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in Brooklyn to announce federal legislation targeting gun traffickers.
Speaking to reporters at the crime scene Wednesday night, Adams said the deadly shooting was just another reminder of the urgent need to address the gun violence problem gripping New York City, and other urban areas across America.
“These are real stories, real lives when a mother’s pushing a baby carriage down the block and is shot at point blank range,” Adams said. “It doesn’t matter if you are on the Upper East Side or East New York, Brooklyn. The oversaturation of guns and dangerous people that repeatedly leave our criminal justice system to continue actions like this, it is what’s making the New York City Police Department and other law enforcement agencies [so] difficult to fight this issue.”
While imploring for additional help from the state and federal governments, the mayor vowed the suspect responsible for the murder would be caught.
“We’re going to find the person that’s guilty of this horrific crime,” Adams said. “We’re going to find him and bring him to justice.”
Anyone with information regarding the murder can call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS (for Spanish, dial 888-57-PISTA). You can also submit tips online at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, or on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
