7-month-old baby killed in New York by stray bullet in suspected gang shooting
The New York Police Department (NYPD) said the baby girl, named Kaori, was an unintended target, describing the shooting as gang-motivated. At least two shots were fired by a pair of moped-borne male perpetrators.
A 7-month-old girl died after a stray bullet hit her while she was in her stroller in New York City's Brooklyn, according to local authorities. The tragic incident took place on Wednesday, April 1 (local time), in broad daylight, the New York Police Department (NYPD) said.
A security footage from the scene captured the unsettling moment when the baby's mother, Lianna Charles-Moore, realised that her infant had been shot.
The incident took place on a pavement, per the police. The New York Police Department (NYPD) said the baby girl, named Kaori, was an unintended target, and preliminary findings indicated the shooting to be "gang-motivated".
In footage cited by the New York Post, Charles-Moore is seen taking cover inside a deli with baby Kaori and her crying 2-year-old brother as loud blasts rang out.
The family had initially mistaken the source of the booms to be fireworks.
The clip then shows Charles-Moore, who had been tending to her son, pulling back the stroller’s visor and bending down to glance at her infant daughter, only to find that she had suffered a gunshot wound to the head.
Kaori was rushed to a hospital, where the doctors pronounced her dead.
At least two shots were fired by a pair of moped-borne male perpetrators, the NYPD said in an official statement.
Kaori's brother was also grazed by a bullet, their mother told the New York Post.
Several adults and children, along with two strollers, including one carrying Kaori, were present in the direction in which the bullets were fired by the pillion, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
According to surveillance footage pieced together by the investigators, the moped crashed with a car two blocks away as the duo tried to escape after the shooting. The impact was so severe that both the rider and the pillion were flung off the two-wheeler.
One of them was injured, and was rushed to a hospital, officials said. The police believed he fit the description of the shooter, and he was subsequently taken into custody in connection with an unrelated investigation, Commissioner Tisch informed.
Detectives are working to determine if that person was involved in the shooting incident, the officer added.
She said that the incident was "a tragedy that truly shocks the conscience."
New York City Mayor, Zohran Mamdani, termed Kaori's killing "an unthinkable loss."
"I’m grateful for the hospital staff who did everything they could and the NYPD for their ongoing work to find those responsible for this heinous murder. We cannot accept this violence as normal. Too many families have suffered this pain," he said in a tweet.
A massive manhunt is underway for the second suspect, the NYPD said.