Two teens were facing charges Tuesday after allegedly shooting down a Harlem street Monday afternoon and hitting a 7-year-old girl.
Police said 19-year-old Daniel Idowu and another 17-year-old male, whose name has not been released, have been charged with attempted murder in connection with the shooting.
The girl was shot in the abdomen just before 3 p.m. on West 145th Street and Bradhurst Avenue, NYPD officials said. She had been riding a pink scooter beside her dad when the gunfire rang out, shattering the window of a nearby Starbucks.
Paramedics rushed her to NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem in stable condition, police said.
Officials said detectives were still investigating a possible motive, and were still unsure who the shooters were targeting.
The teens in custody were awaiting arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday. Idowu was also charged with criminal possession of a weapon.
Gun violence has remained relatively stable in the 30th precinct, which includes Hamilton Heights, Sugar Hill and West Harlem. According to the NYPD’s CompStat database, this incident would be the sixth shooting in the precinct so far this year. By this time last year, the precinct had reported five shootings.
Omar Espinal, 39, was the only person who died by gunfire in the precinct so far this year, according to NYPD data compiled by Gothamist.
“What is happening in our community is unacceptable, and we refuse to sit idly by as the safety of our neighborhoods is compromised,” said City Councilmember Yusef Salaam, who represents the district where the shooting took place, in a statement.
He said his office was working with the NYPD, the mayor’s office and other local organizations to pursue “changes to laws that will better protect our community and hold offenders accountable.”
At a press conference, Mayor Eric Adams praised the “quick response” of officers from the 30th and 32nd precincts, and said he’s praying for the girl’s recovery.
“We’re going to see this through to justice,” Adams said.
This is a developing story based on information from police and may be updated.
