The parents of a five-year-old boy and 13-year-old girl who were nearly shot dead on Thursday night by a callous Bronx gunman watched in h...
The parents of a five-year-old boy and 13-year-old girl who were nearly shot dead on Thursday night by a callous Bronx gunman watched in horror from the window of their apartment just yards away, convinced their two kids had died.
The boy and girl have been named only as Christian and Mia. Their parents do not wish to be named.
On Sunday, they spoke to NYC Mayoral candidate Eric Adams inside their home in Claremont and revealed that they'd sent the kids to buy a loaf of bread from the bodega at 6.44pm on Thursday.
It was still light and the parents watched from the window of their first floor apartment - which is 1,000 feet away as the kids walked down the street hand-in-hand, as they do whenever the kids go to the store for them. The apartment is just feet away from the 170th street subway station and is next to a park. It was busy on Thursday night with local families and residents.
The parents were watching when the gunman - who has not been identified - started running towards the kids on Sheridan Avenue, pointing at his target Hassan Wright, who was also behind the children. Hassan started running and tried to escape but instead he barreled into the brother and sister, knocking them to the ground.
As the shooter stood over Wright, firing six shots at home, the kids were trapped beneath his feet.
In a horrifying disregard for the children's lives, the shooter kept firing, injuring Wright in the legs and back before fleeing. Wright survived and is in the hospital. The motive for the shooting has not yet been established.
Miraculously, neither of the kids were harmed. On Sunday, they were hosted by the Yankees in an executive box to try to cheer them up. They waved for the cameras and smiled with the toys they'd been given. Their parents, who do not want to be named, were also there with their baby sister.
Christian, five, and Mia, 13 at the Yankees game on Sunday. They were hosted by the Yankees after being visited at home by local politicians. The kids were in high spirits despite having narrowly avoided death on Thursday. They smiled and waved for cameras from one of the Yankees' executive boxes
The kids are shown with their mother, father and baby sister. Their parents did not want to be named. Earlier on Sunday, they told NYC mayoral hopeful Eric Adams that they watched from the window of the family home as the gunman fired at their kids. They had sent them out for a loaf of bread. It was daylight, 6.45pm and the store is 1,000ft from their family home
The children were walking home from a store on Thursday night, at 6.45pm, when an unidentified gunman chasing Hassan Wright (left, in red) started shooting at them. Wright tried to get into a laundromat to escape his attacker but in the process, he barreled into the kids and knocked them over. The kids were trapped under his feet as the shooter fired at him. Miraculously, neither of the kids were hit. Wright was struck in the back and legs but survived and is in hospital. Cops continue to hunt the gunman, shown right
The kids had been sent by their parents from their home to buy a loaf of bread. The parents were close enough to be able to watch from their apartment window as the kids crossed the road and made their way towards the store, just 1,000ft away
Adams visited the family before the Yankees game and said they were still 'traumatized' by what had happened.
'They live on the first floor. Whenever they send their children to get something from the store, they look out the front window and they make sure they get there safely. They saw the gunman running down the block shooting. They thought they were shooting their children. They are so traumatized. That little boy won't leave his dad's lap.
'To see the video over and over again. Thinking you were seconds away from losing your two children...they were inches away,' Adams - a former NYPD cop who is leading in the Democratic primary polls - said.
He is campaigning on a strong law-and-order platform that includes reinstating the NYPD's anti-crime unit, bringing back stop-and-frisk and getting rid of the paperwork side of cops' jobs that he says takes up too much time and keeps them from the streets.
He fumed of the suspect: 'We need to catch this b****d. We need to catch him. We need to get him. He needs to be off our streets. He had a total disregard for those children.
'What we saw today should have been broadcast throughout the entire city. These are the real stories. I've lived this with these families over and over again and no one seems to care. Everyone's using philosophical, theoretical of what we need to do long term. Yes, you're right.
'But what are we doing right now? What are we doing right now, that these two babies were going to the store to buy a loaf of bread. This family looked out the window and saw their children being shot at.
Mia and her brother were walking home together from a store. Mia tried to protect her brother while also trying to get the pair back on their feet. The callous gunman had no concern for the fact they were caught in the crossfire and kept shooting. He then fled on the back of a moped
The moped driver who picked up the shooter and fled with him. Police are asking anyone with information to contact them
Crimes have been rising throughout New York City at an alarming rate. The cops say it's down to their budget being cut and key teams like the anti-crime unit being disbanded last year at the height of the BLM movement
The number of shootings across the city is spiraling out of control. There were 33 shootings in just seven days between June 7 and 13th. Over the course of 28 years, there were 146 and there have been 634 this year
'I don't want to hear all this philosophical stuff. What are we doing right now for these communities? We shouldn't have to live this way. We have to crackdown on guns in our city and gangs in our city. We have to be serious about this,' he said.
At a press conference, Mayor Bill de Blasio - who took $1billion from the NYPD's budget last year and disbanded the anti-crime unit that Adams wants to bring back - said only: 'This was a horrible situation.'
As Wright scrambled to get back on his feet, the kids were caught beneath his feet. Mia was filmed trying to shield Christian and also get him back on his feet while the gunman relentlessly fired at them.
Wright was shot in the legs and the back. Miraculously, neither of the kids were hit.
The suspect fled on the back of a moped and Wright was taken to the hospital where he remains in a stable condition after undergoing surgery. His mother told the New York Daily News he has no idea who shot him and is not involved in gangs.
Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz visited the children at their home after the incident along with NYC Mayoral candidate Eric Adams.
He said the kids are still traumatized by what happened and that Christian is too scared to leave his father's side.
'I wish there was a way for the entire city to sit in that living room and hear that family. That little boy won’t leave his dad’s lap.
'That mother is shattered. Every time she looks at the video she relives it,' he said.
Diaz said Mia told him she wants to become a cop.
'Her first instinct was to protect her little brother. She wants to be a police officer. Get a load of that, she’s already proven to be a protector.
'I wish there was a way for the entire city to sit in that living room and hear that family.
The NYPD has released subway surveillance camera footage of him getting on a train with no mask in an effort to identify him.
They are asking anyone with any information about him to come forward.
Adams said on Sunday that he was desperate for cops to find him.
'We need to catch him. We need to get him. He needs to be off our streets,' he said.
The shooting was one of hundreds that have taken place in New York City in recent months amid a violent spike in crime that is terrifying residents. Shootings across the city are up by more than 70 percent.
Adams, who is leading in the polls to become NYC's next mayor, has vowed to reinstate the anti-crime unit - which tackles gun crime.
He also wants to rid police of clerical paperwork to put more of them back on the street.
Maya Wiley, another candidate, wants to defund the police. She doesn't think more are needed on subways, despite a recent surge in violent attacks.
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