Toddler Injured In Shooting Near Jersey City Post Office
JERSEY CITY, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A toddler was hurt in a shooting near a post office in the middle of the afternoon Saturday in Jersey City.
It happened around 2:30 p.m. on the corner of Bergen and Harrison avenues.
Michael Beshay took a photo of his 1 1/2-year-old nephew Mina just before surgery to remove a bullet from his cheek, CBS2's Dave Carlin reported.
The little boy was sitting in the backseat of the family car with his 5-year-old sister Sandra and father Michel in front when someone opened fire.
"It was five sound gunshots," witness Tu Nguyen said.
"We heard the glass," said witness Patricia Fields.
One of the bullets pierced the back window of the car and Mina was hit.
"I feel it's very close to me, I want to turn on my car and get out," Michel Beshay told 1010 WINS' Samantha Liebman. "But I saw the glass is broken and that's when I feel my son bleeding."
Mina's mother, Dina, had been in the post office and came out to find her son shot in the face.
"Bleeding everywhere, bleeding from his face and his body," the boy's uncle said.
Michael Beshay came to the scene to clear the glass from the shattered back window. He showed CBS2 where the bullet entered the vehicle then lodged in Mina's face.
"Somebody come and 'tat, tata, tat, tat and leave running," he said.
Mina was taken to Jersey City Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.
Witnesses said they do not believe the family was the intended target. Nguyen, a nearby nail salon worker, said she saw one suspect.
"He was walking normally and then he started running," she said.
The boy's father said he didn't get a look at the suspect, but said he wants the mayor to do something about the violence.
"More safety in Jersey," he said. "I'm afraid now."
The investigation is ongoing.
