A 12-year-old boy shot and wounded in the lobby of a Brooklyn apartment building took a bullet accidentally fired by one of his friends who was horsing around after removing the gun’s clip, NYPD officials said Wednesday.
The group of youths, all under the age of 16, were hanging out inside the Brownsville building Tuesday night when one of them began playing with a .380 caliber pistol before shooting the other youth by mistake, said NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig.
While the teen took the precaution of removing the clip from the gun, he forgot there was still a bullet in the chamber, said Essig after a press conference at police headquarters. The victim was expected to survive the terrifying incident.
The gun was recovered at the scene on Bristol St. near Dumont Ave. but the clip was not, Essig said. The kids scattered after the 9:20 p.m. gunfire and no arrests have been made.
The youth “pointed it at our victim and pulled that trigger,” said Essig.
Essig said the boys were chummy before the gun was accidentally discharged and “there were no prior disputes or arguments.”
While surveillance cameras weren’t working in the lobby, those on the second floor show a group of girls looking down a flight of stairs at the horseplay when the gun discharged.
“What did you do?” one of the girls screamed, according to Essig.
The bullet tore through the child’s upper chest near the shoulder, a police source said. He was rushed to Maimonides Medical Center, where he’s expected to recover.
The victim doesn’t live in the building but several relatives do, police sources said. The relatives declined to speak to the News Wednesday.
“I just can’t talk about it right now, I’m sorry,” said one relative who did not want to be named.
The boy’s neighbors were stunned the child nearly lost his life.
“I can’t comprehend what happened. It doesn’t make sense,” neighbor Angela Simon said. Her grandson and the victim are “quite close” she explained.
“He’s a very good child. He’s a very respectful young man,” Simon, 71, said of the victim. “Any mother would go bonkers! We are hoping and praying that he’d be home as soon as possible. Resume his life, his activity, go to school, be the best that he wants to be in life.”
The shooting has not only scarred the child who was hit, but her grandson as well, Simon said.
“Grandma, it’s a cruel world,” Simon’s grandson told her when he learned his friend was shot. “We don’t have a childhood now.’”