Family Demands Justice After Gunman Wounds Toddler In Jersey City Shooting
JERSEY CITY, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Police are looking for the gunman who shot a toddler in the face in Jersey City.
The bullet struck him while he sat just feet away from his father. Mina Beshay, 1, was rushed to Jersey City Medical Center with a bullet lodged in his cheek, he had surgery overnight.
As CBS2's Ilana Gold reported, the family has been by his side, and relatives said he is going to be okay.
The boy's family is outraged, and wants the gunman to come forward.
"Somebody come, and tat tat tat, and leave running," the boy's uncle Michael Beshay said.
Mina had been sitting in a car at the corner of Bergen and Harrison Avenues, when a gunman opened fire at 2:30 on Saturday afternoon.
A bullet shattered the back windshield and struck the toddler.
"Imagine, someone just getting a gun and keep shooting. Twelve bullets in just a few seconds," Beshay said.
Relative's said Mina's 5-year-old sister was in the back seat next to him when the shooting happened. Their father was in the car behind the wheel. They had been waiting to pick up the children's mother from a nearby post office.
She walked out to find her son shot and crying uncontrollably before being rushed to the hospital.
"Bleeding everywhere, bleeding, his face," Michael said.
Surrounded by family and friends outside the hospital, Michel Beshay, Mina's father, told CBS2's Brian Conybeare he moved his family to Jersey City from Egypt three years ago for a better life. But the random shooting of his baby, and other recent violence in the city, has him asking if anyone is safe anymore.
"Should we have to let our kids go to school or is it more safe for them to stay at home," Beshay said. "Maybe I expect that one day my daughter or my son will get killed or I have to move from Jersey City or I have to move to another state. "
People in the neighborhood couldn't ignore the sound of gunshots.
"I saw it, I ran inside again, and I locked the door," Tu Nguyen said.
The shooter took off in a matter of seconds. Witnesses said they saw him leaving the scene.
"He was walking normally, and then he started running. The dad told me he saw him this way," Nguyen said.
The victim's relatives said they don't believe the family was the intended target. They need police to track down whoever did the shooting.
"I'm not understanding why you take the gun, tick, tick, tick, go," Michael said.
Beshay's family said he is doing okay, but it is unclear what his recovery will be like. They said he will be in the hospital for a few days.
Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop called the incident a 'tragedy.'
"Gun violence in cities has become a national epidemic. We continue to hire additional officers and deploy more officers on foot patrols, but the challenge is daunting without larger changes to the overall system, such as restricting access to guns by criminals, more witnesses willing to testify and breaking the cycle of criminals returning to the street quickly after violent crimes," Fulop said in a statement Sunday night.
