Video of gunman, victim and children/Photo courtesy of Yahoo! News
Two children are very lucky to be alive. An armed man opened fire on a male victim on a Bronx sidewalk on Thursday evening. The gunman shot the young man several times as the children dodged the bullets and tried to escape the dangerous situation
Pix 11 reported that the still unknown gunman walked up and shot the 24-year-old victim in the back of his legs.
The children, a 5-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl, can be seen walking near the victim when the shooter ran from between parked vehicles brandishing his weapon. The victim and the children began to run and eventually, the victim fell on top of the 5-year-old child knocking him over.
In an attempt to cover the little boy, the girl grabbed him and pulled him back down into her arms. The victim continued to try to avoid the gunfire while laying on his stomach and the gunman went around the children to continue firing. The children did not know the victim.
Neither of the children was wounded. The victim was taken to the hospital by private transport and was in stable condition as of Friday.
The NYPD released the video of the incident hoping that the public can help identify the suspect. The man was wearing sunglasses and all-black clothing. The getaway driver was described as a man wearing a white baseball cap, a red long-sleeved shirt and dark bottoms, possibly shorts.
According to the NYPD, the victim is known to be gang affiliated but they did not say whether the gunman targeted him over gang-related business.
We are certainly glad the children escaped the harrowing scene.