A 12-year-old boy was shot and killed in Brooklyn Thursday evening while sitting in a parked car — an unintended victim after a group of men opened fire, police said.
The boy was with his 20-year-old aunt and a 8-year-old relative, as the three had pulled over near East 56th Street and Linden Boulevard in East Flatbush just before 8 p.m. to eat, police said. That's when men exited a sedan, and numerous shots were fired.
It is believed that the child, who was struck in the head and chest while sitting in the passenger seat, was not the intended target of the shooting. The boy was pronounced dead at the scene, according to senior police officials.
The boy's aunt was also shot as she sat in the driver's seat, suffering gunshots to her head, right cheek, chest and upper left leg. She underwent surgery late Thursday at Kings County Hospital, and is expected to survive, police said. The young girl was in the back seat, and was not struck by the gunfire, according to police.
It was not immediately clear what prompted the shooting, or if the car that the woman and children were in was the target. Police said that the victims live in the area.
The five suspects took off in a black Infiniti sedan with Connecticut license plates, as well as another black sedan.
Get Tri-state area news delivered to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York's News Headlines newsletter.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams spoke at a police press conference at the scene hours after the shooting, calling for an end to the shootings but acknowledged that "as long as we have guns and a revolving door system, we're going to continue to come to crime scenes like this."
News
"The question I continue to ask: What about the innocent people? The people that are sitting in their cars and are shot and killed. We hear so much about those who are fighting, but when are we going to start fighting for the innocent people of this city?" Adams said. "I'm going to do that, and this police department is going to do that. we're going to catch this shooter ... Time for it to stop."
An investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at1-800-577-TIPS.
