A teenager is recovering after being struck by a bullet in the Castle Hill section of the Bronx, in a daytime shooting that has left neighbors on edge. News 12 reported from Zerrega Avenue, where residents passing by said they were feeling extra cautious after learning that a 15-year-old boy had been shot in the middle of their normally quiet street.
According to police, the shooting happened the previous afternoon, at a time of day when most people in the area are heading home. The timing of the attack, during what should have been an ordinary stretch of the afternoon, was part of what unsettled people who live and walk along the block where it took place.
Investigators said officers responded to the scene just after four o'clock. When they arrived, they found a teenage boy who had been shot in the foot. He was taken to a hospital for treatment, and News 12 reported that, despite the frightening nature of the incident, he is expected to recover from his injury.
Video from the day of the shooting showed the immediate police response, with crime scene tape blocking off part of the intersection between Zerrega Avenue and Randall Avenue. The cordon marked off the area as investigators began gathering evidence and trying to establish exactly what had unfolded on the street.
For people who live nearby, the violence came as a shock. One neighbor passing by the street the following morning told the station he was surprised by the attack, repeating that it had shaken him and describing the area as a nice neighborhood, even as he acknowledged that things had changed over the years.
As of that morning, the search for those responsible was still underway. Police said they are looking for two people in connection with the shooting, and that the pair are believed to have left the scene on a moped, a detail that has shaped how investigators are trying to track their movements after the gunfire.
Authorities have asked the public for help in identifying and finding the suspects. Anyone with information has been urged to contact the Crime Stoppers hotline, as officers continue to work the case and the wounded teenager recovers from a shooting that interrupted an otherwise quiet afternoon in Castle Hill.