Teen fatally shot in head by bike-riding gunman in Soho: sources
A teenager was shot in the head by a gunman on a Citi Bike outside a high-end hotel in Soho — and was rushed to Bellevue Hospital where he died, law enforcement sources said.
The shooting took place shortly before 2:30 p.m. Tuesday in what the sources said may have been a school-related shooting.
The mortally wounded 16-year-old victim went down in an alley next to the Dominick Hotel on Spring Street, across from Chelsea Career and Technical Education High School.
The victim was shot once in the head and twice in the leg, the sources said. The teen was a student at nearby Broome Street Academy Charter High School, sources added.
“It was sickening,” said Justo Cruz, a security guard who works in the area. “He was just laid down, looking unconscious. I saw some blood on the shirt but I didn’t look. Nothing nice. That was a human on the floor. That was movie-like.
The 22-year-old described bedlam as cop cars and ambulances flooded the area in the aftermath.
“No matter how nice a place is or stuff like that, you always kind of have to be on high alert in a sense,” Cruz said. “Soho – good vibes, good energy, very diverse. You don’t expect certain things in a nice area.”
A nearby parking attendant said he ran for cover after hearing at least two gunshots.
“I was protecting myself because you didn’t know where the sound was coming from,” he added. “People were running so I also ran.
“It’s so sad,” he said of the young victim.
It’s unclear if the teen was the intended target, but sources said that the shooting may have stemmed from a dispute between two groups of girls earlier in the day.
There is no immediate information on the motive for the shooting, which was just one of at least three violent incidents involving teens in the Big Apple on Tuesday afternoon.
A 15-year-old boy was slashed in the back of the head during an argument on an MTA bus in the Bronx shortly after 2:30 p.m. around East Tremont Avenue and Anthony Avenue, police said.
The teen was expected to survive his wounds. The suspects fled the scene and there have been no arrests.
Two hours later, a pair of 15-year-old boys were stabbed during a fight at the intersection of South 2nd Street and Keap Street in Brooklyn, according to police and sources.
Both teens were taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition. One of the boys suffered stab wounds in the right arm and neck and the other was knifed in the buttocks, police said.
The double stabbing stemmed from a dispute at school that started in one Brooklyn neighborhood and spilled into another, sources said.
No arrests have been made, but authorities are seeking two perps who were wearing ski masks and are believed to also be teenagers, sources said.