Pregnant Mother Of 13 Killed In Crossfire Near Brooklyn School

NYPD Probing Whether A Rooftop Shooter Involved In Death Of Zurana Horton

October 21, 2011 11:55 PM

Zurana Horton was killed amid crossfire in Brownsville Friday afternoon. (credit: handout)

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NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — A manhunt is on for suspects in Brooklyn after a shooting near a school left one woman dead and two others — including a young girl — injured. Police are currently questioning three individuals with regard to the shooting.

Shots rang out around 2:30 p.m. Friday afternoon at the intersection of Pitkin Avenue and Watkins Street near P.S. 298 in the Brownsville section, where students had just been dismissed 13 minutes earlier.

Neighbors Believe The Shooting Was Gang-Related. 1010 WINS’ Terry Sheridan Reports.

While picking up her child from school, 34-year-old Zurana Horton, a pregnant mother of 13 children, was killed. Horton is being regarded as a hero after police said she was seen hovering over several children to protect them as the shots were fired.

Another unidentified woman, who was also picking up her child, was shot in the arm and chest and is listed in stable condition. Cheanne McKnight, 11, also sustained a graze wound to the cheek. Both were being treated at Brookdale Hospital.

McKnight’s mother, Harriet, told CBS 2′s Derricke Dennis that her daughter is alive thanks to Horton.

“She could have been dead. Thank God it was just her face,” Harriet McKnight said. “She knew what happened, her face hurt. She said it felt like a rock hit her.”

Family and friends in the Horton’s Brownsville apartment said she loved children, and would do anything to protect them. So when the gunfire erupted, she used her body as a shield.

“Didn’t know that she was pregnant or whatever, but I know I’m going to miss her. She was a good person,” said friend Tiffany Morris.

Police are also investigating whether the gunman fired from a rooftop about one block away — 1800 Pitkin Ave. — where seven shell casings were found. Five other shell casings were found in front of that building and authorities believe they came from a gunman’s 9mm semiautomatic pistol.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said that a total of 14 shots were fired Friday afternoon.

The NYPD said that two suspects, including the gunman, were still being sought. One was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and the other dark clothing, authorities said.

Witnesses also told 1010 WINS’ Terry Sheridan that there has been a long-running dispute between two housing projects.

“It’s Howard Houses against Glenmore — every other day, gangs against gangs. That’s why I pulled my children out, so they could be safe from this,” one woman told Sheridan.

Police were also investigating whether the gunman may have been shooting at a group of male teenagers on the street.

“My heart go out to the family. That could have been one of us, that could have been our family, you know? This is really, really serious,” said Nilda Ramos.

A $12,000 reward is being offered for information in the case.

Please offer your thoughts in the comments section below.

Pregnant Mother Of 13 Killed In Crossfire Near Brooklyn School

Sharon

Racist much????? The hope is someone like you is sterilized.
John Frost

Why was she allowed to have 13 Kids?
Blacks are leeches and parasites said a retired NYPD Sargent.

Class Pre-K

@ John, perhaps your “retired buddy” should have stayed in school a bit longer, HE DOESN”T KNOW HOW TO SPELL.

Scott

This lady had 13 kids for the welfare check..totally wrong!! Awful to see people use the system for whatever financial gain they can muster while not seeing the harm it does in making these kids lives hard and depressing. Sorry she died but she needed to stop popping out babies for a gov’t. check!!

strongblackwomen

how do you know she was on welfare maybe she was a laywer and supported all And i bet theywere from all the same father

Corel

I am sorry that she was killed. People do not respect life today .However, as you read this you can not help but think why is she pregnant again with 13 kids already ? Are the father(s) involved in their lives and who will help care for them now?

BLESSMENOW

@corel, seriously is that what’s important now?? she is dead leaving behind 13 children, why and how she have her children is non of our business who cares, can u help donate something 2 her children?? my opinion, gosh!!!!

Frank

Racist: 1. Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive term for a white person. 2: a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities, if promoted by white people. 3: a belief that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race, if promoted by white people.
supergrover

I guess the implication is that if she was, say, the mother of only three children, it wouldn’t be so bad.

I guess responsible heads-of-family just aren’t worth much these days.
Pyatt

NYC (and the world) is getting so overpopulated that EVERYONE (white, black, etc,etc) should be sterilized after 2 kids. Those receiving public assistance would be a good start since govt can have leverage over them.
Jacqueline

It’s soooo sad because i was just standing in the same spot she was killed i was standing right out the store when I heard the shots fired I ran in the store with my son and i looked out and saw the women laying on the floor and blood coming out her mouth that was so sad to see her there laying lifeless it’s no joke whats going on in brownsville i saw the whole thing happen thank God my son was not killed I feel bad for the other people struck I pray that God gives strenght to the family of that lady who died and her unborn child my goodness i am still shaken up by the who inscident it’s sad that no adays you have to watch your back every where you go you can’t walk in the streets in peace anymore with out looking over your shoulder it’s just soooo sad.

Dani Rivera

Thank God you and your son are okay! It is a very sad situation, but unfortunately it will only get worse before it gets better. The sad part of it is, is that people do not have any respect or reagard for life anymore. The only solace there is, is that what goes around, comes around and the ones doing the dirty deeds will get theirs on day, whether we see it or not! Keep your faith in God and he will help you through the feelings you are having about this incident. God bless you and yours!!!

Jacqueline

Thank you so much for that ,what comes around will surely come back aound
People no adays are so ignorant and don’t think before writting or saying things you know that’s sad so sad.I am still shaken up seeing that lady there laying helpless but it gets me even more upset the comments of these people they wouldn’t write that if it happend to one of there loved ones.Thanks agian and God bless you too!

Tom

Are you on welfare?

Danielle

Jacqueline don’t respond to his ignorance. It’s sad when someone is killed on a corner in Brooklyn and its sad when a kid in Colorado builds bombs in his garage and kills his classmates. Instead of writing ignorant stuff here people should take time out to do something about the problem. There is a complete disregard for LIFE. I work in law enforcement a couple blocks away from this incident. We have more NYPD officers covering the occupy wall street protest then the area. The amount that has been spent on overtime at that Park is at 3 million to date. How many after school, mentoring or sports could that amount of money cover.

Carolina

Thank you for sharing your story, Jacqueline – my heart goes out to your community.
Danielle, thank you for your humanity. Thank you for not taking this opportunity to bash all of the citizens in the area. Bless you both.

Dani Rivera

OMG!!! Is this how people in New York really think and act??? The ones making comments about this woman should really be ashamed of themselves!! Unbelievable!!! This woman was murdered in cold blood and all you can seem to post is that your worried if your tax dollars will pay for her children? These poor kids are left without their mother…does that mean anything to you people?? May God have mercy on your souls! I am from Wisconsin and you could not pay me enough money to associate with likes of many of you!! We as a society, should be helping our own….worry about the tax dollars that are being spent in other countries for stupid stuff when it could be used here to help pay for Americans who are sick, jobless, homeless and hungry!!!!! That’s what you should really be complaining about!!! May God bless this poor family and keep them under his wing during this very traumatic time. RIP Zurana!!!

Joe Schmo

Tax dollars ARE being spent for stupid stuff here. Like 13.5 kids that she can’t support on her own. Wouldn’t be surprised if she has grandchildren leeching off the system as well.

Dani

Joe, you seem like a very bitter man and that bitterness is what is going to eat you alive!! Do you know this woman personally?? Do you know her situation?? Unless you do, you have no right to judge her. Matthew 7:1-2 states: “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. One day YOU may be the one who needs help…should we judge you?????

Valannin

Is everyone from Wisconsin as naive as you?

Carolina

My hope is that not everyone is as callous as you, Valannin. Have a heart and stop spreading the bitterness.

Heather

The ones that are on here talking smack about this woman, would b singing a different tune if she used her body as a shield and saved their child from being killed now would they?

gglenie

Some Of You People Are So Mean. Maybe she didnt believe in Birth control. Say Something Nice…Let Her R.I.P. She Did A Brave Thing Before She Died. May The Father Rest Her Soul.
flynn

The answer is “Yes, idiot, you’re comment has been reported.”
Colleen Quintyne

34 years old and had 13 kids, what she been doing screwing every night,?god that is ridiculous.

meeeeeee

Listen you idiot nomatter how many times she screwed or how many kids she had her life and her unborns life was taken you are soooo ignorant wake up!!! It could had happend to any of your family members you are such an idiot grow up!!!!!

mr. matt

get off your high liberal horse and see it for what it’s worth outside of all the touch feely crap. She had 13 kids before she was 35 and living in the projects. At some point you’ve got take certain responsibility for bringing a kid into the world that you can’t support. Aside from that any life lost is tragic, but it could have been prevented years before. Just think about it.

Eddie B.

Gotta love you “pro-life” Republicans, cheering the murder of an innocent woman.

What are you sadists gonna applaud next? The Holocaust?

kimberly clark

that’s cold
Anni

Why she had so many kids? And she was just 34. Imagine how many more kids she would have had by the time she would have been 50. So irresponsible! Some people just open their legs and produce like a rabbit.

meeeeee

no respect what’s so ever no matter if she had 100 kids that’s not your business a life was taken and a baby also how could you say that about her you wouldn’t like it if something like that happend to one of your familly memebers….you wouldn’t like people writing comments like that…..grow up you stupid idiot I can’t stand people with your low class mentality complete idiot!!!!!!! what you think about that now!!!!!
BLESSMENOW

who r u? where u ras come from? shut u ras!!!! idiot !!! u r go change that,,,,,,

cantcastthe1stone

Its sad how quick people are to judge and stereotype. Human beings do reprehensible things regardless of race or gender. Our focus should be a shooting near a school which led to a woman using her BODY to sheild innocent children. If she were white would the comments be the same? And her 13 children… A good number were grown. Stop the hate, its what they feed off of.
Guy who once saw Lyle A l z a d o at Newark Airport

When is NHL 12 going to be updated with the new Winnipeg Jets uniforms? Driving me bonkers!!
Em

I have no problem with your comment (even thought I personally think you are racist and ignorant) expect for the fact that you have NO facts to back up any of your claims. You do not know if she was married, you do not know how many of those children had the same father, you do not know how she supported them or what kind of job she had. So instead of judging someone unfairly, why don’t you take the story as it was meant to be taken….A person who unselfishly gave her life to save the llives of children. As for the comment about the bloods… are you serious?

asicer

If you live in Brownsville, you’re forced to do so b/c you don’t have much money. If you have 13 kids and another on the way, you’ve most likely not attained your PHd or bachelors or even a HS degree. Likewise, your kids have probably not gone on to productive careers. These are all facts, not stereotypes. It’s a guess, but a very good guess that there are many different fathers involved and that the kids will go into the system to be supported by taxpayers. This is Brooklyn for you. Look around.
Dani

Well said Em! No one has the right to judge someone else unless they have walked in their shoes! This woman could have been married and her and her husband may have wanted a large family. If he passed away, that would have left her in a bind with a large family to support on her own. Who is to really know and who’s business is it anyway! This is the path that God chose for her and it cannot be changed. Hopefully, those who are posting such nonsense, may they never need help because that is when they will truly understand what the rest of us already know!!!
Jerry

Gimme a break, odds are she was working the system and had kids for this reason.
This mentality makes Brownsville as well as all other ghetto type areas what it is. Unless all people take responsibility for them selves, they willl continually make nothing of themselves.
Odds of the children of this poor woman making anything of themselves are dismal.
Her reasoning was simple stupidity and selfishness,subjecting not only her kids to a poor fate ,those forced to live in this enviornment, too, will be adversely affected.
Those suggesting this as racist and cruel are truly in denial.

Mona Simmons

God bless you Zurana and your family
What about her baby?!

RIP. Did her baby survive?!…I hope so. So tragic, smh. Post pictures of
Charles F. Bolden, Jr. everywhere. These kids should be looking up to him.

Joe Schmo

I am wondering about her baby as well. Are MY tax dollars going to pay for 13 or 14 of here lil’ dumpings?

Tecato

your tax dollars already were, she was from the projects (public housing).

Clarke

My first reply was to Hmmmmmm
Angelina LaCrosse

I work in Brooklyn and my students tell me that the Bloods are targeting women for the Halloween week. All women and girls will be shot according to them. When the woman in Brighton Beach was killed they said “we told you so, its starting already. They are targeting the women” and then this tonight. I didn’t want to believe these kids but I think they told me the truth.
BLOOMBERG FOR PREZ!

CRIME MAY BE UP,BUT WE HAVE THE GREATEST BIKE LANES AROUND
Hiphop hamburger

Another great job by the black community. No wonder the cops don’t care about east ny. Smh
Conservatives Stink

This does not only happen in the “ghetto” it happens in white suburban land where some people go into schools and shoot everyone in sight. “Liberals Stink” has a disease called racism.

Hmmmmmm

It’s not being racist, it is shear statistics. There are a higher percentage of violent crimes carried out in the “ghetto”, when being directly compared to other general population areas, or “white suburban land” as you call it.. He/she didn’t say anything about the race, just the area. So you Automatically jump on it being about racism. Hmmmmmmm……. Who’s the racist?

tkny45

Hmmmmm to you……Go check your statistics MOST crime are not committed in the Ghetto. Stop looking at Eyewitness News and go chase the Real facts.
Clarke

No, you acted like only black crimes happened so let me school you someone who got Scottish/Irish/Black/Asian in their blood. Black on black crimes is common but so is white on white crimes. I suggest you check the TRUE STATISTICS on the fed’ website, as well as states for states’ websites. Just read a white man killed three white people who were family just because he was emotional abused. They had money too, so you see, white or black it doesn’t matter ghetto, surban, city or country people killed other people of their own races whether its family, friends, co-workers or strangers. In California in a quiet neighborhood a white man walked in and killed 8 people all white. Last time I checked the statistic of black on black crimes and white and white crimes they were both neck to neck in the 90% range.

Tell It Like It Is

But we’re not speaking about the suburbs or rural America. We are speaking about NYC and time and time again, almost every single solitary time it’s blacks and Hispanics doing the shootings and stabbings. There is so comparison to the crime that whites commit in NYC. I’m tired of people dancing around this topic all the time. White people are always afraid of being called racist. Blacks want to point fingers at everyone because it’s always someone else’s fault. Hispanics know there is a problem with blacks but suck it up and figure there’s no choice.

There is a big problem in the minority community, specifically blacks.

bigmamamuley

We are talking about crime, and that includes the White ghettos also. There is just as much crime committed by Whites against other Whites as there is in any other neighborhood. You may be able to B,S. somebody else, but I am an informed, and intelligent person, and I know the facts. It was White people who started gangs, it was White people who started robbing banks, it was White people who started murdering innocent people in this country. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, by presenting proof. My proof is in the history books, where’s yours?

asicer

i’d consider myself liberal but its true about black people committing crimes. you can’t really say it b/c of racial sensibilities but there it is. If you aren’t a new yorker, i can tell you that all the areas with lots of blue dots (homicides) are about 85-100% black areas. The areas without much homicides are not. http://projects.nytimes.com/crime/homicides/map
supergrover

Even if there is “just as much crime” involving two white parties (and I highly doubt there is), whites are still the demographic majprity in this country. So even if what you state were true, the case remains that a higher percentage of blacks as a whole are criminals where a black victim is concerned.

And we haven’t even factored in the numbers for crimes commited by blacks upon other races. Of course, those never really count as “crimes” to you people, do they.

Liberals Stink

Just another day in the ghetto!

bigmamamuley

Which ghetto, the White, Black, Hispanic, Chinese, Russian, etc. They are all ghettos, and there is crime committed in every one of them.

heks

There is a Russian Ghetto in NYC?? PLEASE dont say Brighton rofl cause people there drive bentleys and maybachs

bigmamamuley

Yes, there is a Russian ghetto, and yes it is Bryton Beach. Do you even know what a ghetto means. Well, it means an area where the majority of the people are all the same, or in the same condition. The Russians of Bryton Beach may drive Bentleys , Mercedes, and every other expensive cars, but the majority of them belong to illegal gangs like the Russian Mafia, and do other illegal activities to acquire their money. There is also a lot of illegal immigrant Russians, here in Bryton Beach, and this area also has it fair amount of crimes.
Clarke

@heks

People like you are ignorant because you are the kind of person who don’t even know what’s going on in your own backyard.

What part of mob, gangsters doesn’t register in your head? Those type of people are just as ruthless than the gangs in the projects. They’re go to church, donated money, kisses neighbors’ babies, play happy family with their wives/children but when it comes down to business, that is dirty they’re cold blooded murderers. Ever watch some true life mob movies like Good Fellas? Donnie Brasco? Ever heard of the Iceman? He was white and one cold blooded hitman for the mob. The man’s family to this day are shock what he was because they saw no sign of his evilness while married with children.

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Pregnant Mother Of 13 Killed In Crossfire Near Brooklyn School

NYPD Probing Whether A Rooftop Shooter Involved In Death Of Zurana Horton

October 21, 2011 11:55 PM

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