A 13-year-old boy waiting for the bus with his aunt and cousin was shot twice in the head when a gunman unleashed a hail of bullets at a man he was chasing down Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn Monday, police and the injured teen's father said.
The gunman fired at least nine shots shortly before noon, police said. The teen, Gama Droiville, was struck by two bullets on Flatbush near Beverley Road. The man police say the suspect was aiming for was hit once in the leg.
The bleeding teenager stumbled into Avenue Pizza II and collapsed into a chair. A worker behind the counter rushed over to him and applied pressure on his wounds, then called police.
"I tried to help," said Ruffino Salazar.
Droiville's father, Jimmy Marcel, said the boy's aunt began panicking when he said he was having difficulty with his vision.
"When Gama realized, he said 'Auntie, I could not see, I could not see,'" said Marcel. "That when she realized Gama got shot."
Witnesses said they could hear the screams of the young boy's aunt.
The boy, an honor student and choir boy, underwent a four-hour surgery at Kings County Hospital overnight and was listed in stable condition as of Tuesday morning, police said. Family friends and supporters say it appears he'll likely lose vision in his right eye, but doctors say it's a miracle the boy is alive at all after being caught in the gunfire.
"The doctors told us that is a blessing that he is alive," said Marcel.
The 24-year-old man police believe was the intended target was also in stable condition at the hospital.
Community leaders held a rally Tuesday evening near where Droiville was shot.
Police have released surveillance video of the suspected gunman running through the area with a weapon in his hand (above).
Anyone with information about his whereabouts or the assault is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS.
