Justin Streeter, 14, Dies in Shooting As Gun Violence in NYC Remains Worrying
Justin Streeter, a 14-year-old boy, was shot and killed on Tuesday, July 19th. According to reports, Streeter and a 15-year-old friend were leaving a deli in Harlem when gunfire erupted.
Streeter, who tried to escape the shooting on a scooter, was struck in the head. He was taken to Harlem Hospital where he succumbed to his wounds.
His friend, who was shot in the leg, managed to escape without suffering a fatal injury. He is in stable condition and expected to make a full recovery. The shooting took place in broad daylight around 4:20 p.m, near East 128th Street and Park Avenue.
“This is terrible and we shouldn’t have to suffer through this gun violence,” Chief of Patrol Jeffrey Maddrey said in an emotional press conference at the scene of the shooting.
“We shouldn’t be scared to walk out in our streets in the broad daylight in the middle of the afternoon and feel like we’re going to be victims of gun violence.”
According to Maddrey, the suspect of the shooting was last seen fleeing the crime scene on 128th Street, heading toward Madison Avenue.
Police are still investigating the number of shots fired and the motive for the crime. Maddrey, in the press conference, said that the boys appeared to be targeted.
Streeter had recently moved with his family to Plainfield, New Jersey. His family moved as a means to avoid the violence present in the streets of Harlem, the same violence that claimed Streeter’s life. Streeter was with his friend as a last goodbye to his neighborhood.
The violence on the streets of New York City has been unrelenting, occurring in an almost never-ending cycle. A few days prior to Streeters death, there was a shooting that resulted in the injury of four people on Sunday, July 17th in Brownsville, Brooklyn.
Still on Justin Streeter’s death…
Video footage of the incident, released on Wednesday, July 20th, showed the shooter aiming directly at two of the four people he shot. The two victims, a 16-year-old and a 24-year-old, appear to be the intended targets of the shooting.
The 16-year-old boy was struck in the head and taken to Maimonides Medical Center. Initially, it was reported that he was in critical condition but has now stabilized. The 24-year-old man was struck in the torso. He was treated at the Brookdale University Medical Center, where he is in stable condition.
The other two victims of the shooting were seemingly innocent bystanders. A 59-year-old man who was grazed in the leg by a bullet from the suspect’s weapon was also treated at Brookdale Medical Center. The fourth victim, a 34-year-old man who was grazed by a bullet in the back, refused medical care.
Police say the suspect of the Brooklyn shooting is a male with a thin build, dark complexion, and an Afro-style haircut. He was last seen wearing a black sweatshirt, black sweatpants, and sneakers. Available footage of the suspect from an hour before the shooting showed him riding a blue scooter.
