One teenager was gunned down, another was slashed and an adult male was injured after gunfire erupted on a Bronx commercial strip in broad daylight Tuesday, cops said.
Police rushed to the scene after a 911 call around 3:52 p.m. near Southern Blvd. & Westchester Ave. in Longwood. where a 15-year-old boy was slashed in the lip, an 18-year-old male was shot in the chest and a 38-year-old man was shot in the leg, police sources said.
“Two young black boys came running … one of them had been shot in the body, the other one was helping him. He had his arm around him and he was carrying him,” said food vendor Selcuk Sagdic, 45. “They both fell here, they were both on the ground.”
Two of the injured victims collapsed near a fruit stand near a Dunkin Donuts on Westchester Ave; first responders attempted to do chest compressions on the fatally injured victim until he was taken away by an ambulance, according to Sagdic.
Blood stains from the grim carnage could be seen across eight storefronts along the strip.
Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson also rushed to the scene, but declined to comment.
EMS transported the youngest teen to Harlem Hospital, where he was reported in stable condition; the 18-year-old victim was taken to Lincoln Hospital, where he died from his injuries, and the third victim, who was shot in the leg, was driven by private means to Lincoln Hospital and was in stable condition, according to police sources.
Two people were taken into custody, the sources said, adding that a gun was also recovered at the scene.
“When the police noticed [one] kid had a gun, they took it away from them and put him in handcuffs,” Sagdic said. “The cop looked over and suddenly noticed the boy had a gun.”
Cops are looking for three men who fled south on Southern Blvd.— one wearing a white T-shirt, blue shorts and black sneakers, another man carrying a black book bag and wearing a black T-shirt, gray shorts and black sneakers, and a third man wearing white tank top blue shirt white sneakers.
“It was a fight going on, the three of them on top of him, stabbing him,” another witness who gave his name as Austin said of the brawl. “There were four gunshots, two (on one street) and two when they went around the corner.”
It was not immediately known what triggered the violence.
Anyone with information on the suspect’s identity or whereabouts is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
