Police Search For Gunman In Stray Bullet Shooting Of Paterson Boy
PATERSON, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Police in New Jersey are searching for a gunman after a 7-year-old boy was struck and wounded by a bullet inside his home.
Second grader Jaiden DeLeon was struck in the shoulder Monday night when gunfire erupted outside his home on Rosa Parks Boulevard. Police say there was some sort of commotion out on the street near a liquor store when someone pulled out a gun and started firing.
The boy's aunt said if he was hit just a few inches lower he would not be here.
"My grandmother and my mother were in the house, the kids were playing in the living room and six shots were fire, one of which struck his shoulder right above his heart," said the boy's aunt, Jennifer Rodriguez, who had just left the apartment. "He did recognize that something came in through window, he wasn't sure what it was."
As CBS2's Meg Baker reported, DeLeon was dressed in his hospital gown when he was awarded Hero Of The Month at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center.
After he was shot, Jaiden bravely called 911.
"My mother couldn't get the call out, and he told my grandmother, 'I'll take the phone and I'll call them myself,' he called, he gave them the address, and he was very brave; didn't drop a tear at all," Rodriguez said.
A worker at the liquor store said gunfire happens in the area all too often.
"At least four or five times a month -- I know because we live here, it's nothing new for us because we are used to it," Blvd Liquor Store employee Julio Munoz said.
Rodriguez agrees and is calling on Paterson's mayor to do something about crime in the neighborhood.
"It's something very common that's happening around that area," Rodriguez said. "Unfortunately my sister doesn't have the funds to be anywhere else."
The family has been affected twice by gun violence. They are related to 12-year-old Genesis Rincon, who was fatally shot while riding her scooter on Rosa Parks Boulevard in 2014.
"She was a little girl full of life, would make YouTube videos, loved makeup," Rodriguez said.
Because of these incidents, Rosa Parks Boulevard has been dubbed by some as "Death Avenue."
"You're not safe in your own house," Lourdes, a family friend said, "A lot of shootouts in this area over drugs, over liquor, and the kids are paying for it. They need to put the guns down."
Rodriguez said Jaiden is on the honor roll, loves reading. He is expected to be released from St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center on Tuesday.
The investigation is active and ongoing
