Boy, 16, Shot In Head In East Harlem
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A 16-year-old boy was wounded Friday afternoon in a shooting outside a public housing development in East Harlem.
As CBS2's Dave Carlin reported, the boy was in surgery late Friday at Harlem Hospital Center. Relatives came out to tell reporters that doctors told them his condition was extremely grave and the situation was very touch-and-go.
Chico Tavarez was standing near the Johnson Houses at Third Avenue near 112th Street around 4:45 p.m., when he was shot in the head, police said.
He was confronted by two suspects – one of them with a gun – before the suspects ran away, police said.
The scene is right across the street from a school and playground. A witness described what she saw.
"I heard about five to six gunshots, so then I went, looked over the window, see what was going on. I saw a couple of boys running that way, and then I went to see what they were running at; running away from. And it was a man on the floor and there was a woman over him. I didn't see movement at all at first, so I just stared at him for a while to see if anything was going on, and you could see he was trying to breathe and he was breathing," said witness Deyra Acosta.
Acosta said one of the young men she saw running away had a red hoodie on. She suspected he was a suspect.
The family said they have been told Tavarez was in very critical condition and may not make it through the surgery. Now, they have a message for everyone; that the violence must stop, Carlin reported.
There had been no arrests as of early Friday evening, and the investigation continued.
