Radio Free Montone: He's A 'Gun Kid'
By John Montone, 1010 WINS
NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- "Pretty big gun for a pretty small man," said Police Commissioner Bill Bratton.
The city's top cop spoke after 14-year-old Kahton Anderson was charged as an adult in the murder of 39-year old Angel Rojas. Thing is, Anderson is not a "man." He's a kid. In our story about the killing on a city bus I called him not a "gunman," but a "gun kid."
It was a case of a child firing a powerful weapon at another child.
Here's how it went down. The B-15 bus was rolling along Marcus Garvey Boulevard in Bed-Sty. Police say Kahton Anderson was on board with a .357-Magnum revolver when another kid boarded the bus.
Anderson, seeing it was a rival gang member with whom he had a beef, began firing.
Firing bullets from what is known as a "one shot stop," weapon. Firing in the general direction of his rival. A man outside the bus told 1010 WINS it sounded like a "cannon," going off. Only one bullet did any damage, but that damage can never be fixed.
Angel Rojas was on his way home to have dinner with his wife and two children. Rojas was finishing a 10-hour shift at one of his jobs and wanted to spend some time with his family before leaving for his second job. The bullet from the "gun kid's" cannon struck Rojas in the head, killing him.
One resident of Bed-Sty, a former marine, laid on top of his wife as the shots rang out. He told 1010 WINS he blames the parents. He says they don't make their children go to school -- there's no discipline.
Angel Rojas's 12-year-old son said what the shooter did was "bad," and that, "My dad would be alive if he didn't have a gun."
But police say Kahton Anderson did have a gun. A big gun that detectives say he fired killing a family man. "The stupidity," said Bratton.
There is a picture of Kahton Anderson being led out of the 79th-precinct police station. He is a good-looking, well-groomed 14 year old whose unworried expression belies the long, bleak future he may be facing. He is a child, a gang banger, an alleged killer.
He's a "gun kid."
John Montone, 1010 WINS News.
