A 13-year-old boy was injured in a shooting yesterday afternoon in East Harlem, near the 23rd Precinct station house located across the street from where the incident occurred. As reported by Gothamist, the incident occurred around 4:10 p.m. at the NYCHA George Washington Houses, located at East 102nd Street and Third Avenue, with authorities responding to the scene and transporting the wounded teen to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital where he was listed in stable condition.
Police are actively searching for the suspect, described as a man wearing a black shirt and mask who fled the area in an undisclosed direction; no arrests have yet been made in the case and the NYPD's investigation into the motive behind this shooting continues. According to ABC7 New York, this event marks the second in two weeks involving a child injured by gunfire in the city; the first was the fatal shooting of Sanjay Samuel in Queens as he was on his way to school.
NYPD data shows a slight decline in shooting incidents within the precinct covering East Harlem, with six shootings reported as of Sunday—down from eight during the same period in 2024. Citywide, gun violence has decreased by 20% this year.
The community has seen several high-profile violent incidents in recent months involving young people. Just last month, an officer discharged their weapon during a shootout between two groups of teenagers at NYCHA’s Wagner Houses, resulting in two 15-year-olds being wounded and the arrest of 18-year-old Damien Calhoun on charges including attempted murder. "The greater focus needs to be on the guns that all levels of government have failed to regulate and control — specifically, the illegal guns that are trafficked from more lax states," Calhoun's lawyer Yusuf Abdul-Wahab Elashmawy said, suggesting an urgent need for effective action on gun control policies, according to his statement obtained by Gothamist.
