“Child grazed by bullet while playing in Brooklyn” says NYPD

The latest in a series of violent crimes and shootings across the city.

A five-year-old child was shot while playing on the sidewalk in Brooklyn on Monday night, sources said, adding that the little girl was shot in the head while walking along Montauk Avenue near New Lots Avenue in East New York. The little girl was grazed by the bullet shot by a male suspect around 6:05 p.m. ET according to police blotters.

East New York, StreetEasy

"It's terrifying, absolutely terrifying," Marva Williams, a Brooklyn, New York resident told us upon learning of the shooting through the Citizen app. "I know East New York isn't the safest neighborhood, but the idea of little kids taking bullets now? That makes me sick to my stomach, especially knowing warm weather is starting and more kids will be out in the streets."

Police say the child was playing outside on the sidewalk when shots were fired by an unknown suspect. The little girl was taken to Brookdale Hospital and is said to be in stable condition. Neighborhood residents are shaken, though, especially after one man was killed and two others were wounded by gunfire in East New York just days ago.

"It's been a really violent year since the pandemic," one teenage male from the neighborhood told News Break exclusively, declining to share his name with News Break out of fear for his own safety. "I don't want to get involved in this drama, but I have little brothers of my own and shots going off in the street with kids around is just crazy. Brooklyn has definitely gotten kind of wild in the last few months or a year, and I think it's because everyone's got all this angry energy around here. It's just too much. If kids are getting shot for no reason other than playing? It's just too much."

East New York, Brooklyn

While the official city crime statistics for the last few weeks have yet to be released by the mayor's office or the police commissioner, the month of February 2021 saw continued reductions in every major index crime category with the exception of grand larceny auto (GLA). Overall the New York City index crime fell 26.5% compared with February 2020. The reduction was driven by a 40.4% decrease in grand larceny, and a 32.7% decrease in robbery. There was also one less murder in February 2021 compared to the previous year. Violent crime in particular saw a significant spike across summer 2020, and drove many families and young professionals to flee the city, with areas like Midtown Manhattan seeing all but total decline.

“As New York City emerges from one of its most challenging periods, the public safety of all New Yorkers will be essential to our collective success,” said Police Commissioner Dermot Shea. “The men and women of the NYPD are resilient and up to the challenge before us. Not only are they going in harm’s way to drive down violence like never before, they are also connecting with the communities they serve in innovative, impactful ways.”

No arrests have been made yet in this case, and the investigation is ongoing by NYPD. We'll update this story as developments are released.

If you live in East New York or the borough of Brooklyn and have a tip or experience you'd like to share, we'd love to hear your feedback in the comments section below.