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Brooklyn Woman Struck By Bullets While Watching Grandchildren At Playground

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Brooklyn grandmother was hit by three bullets this week, in what police think is a random shooting.

As CBS2's Emily Smith reported, the woman was struck in the back as she sat on a park bench at a playground in the Cypress Hills Houses, at 1250 Sutter Ave., watching her grandchildren play.

Angel Morciglio heard the gunshots Monday night around 8:30 p.m.

"It was real loud – and no police was around," Morciglio said. "It sounded like, boom!"

Police said someone fired three bullets into Yvonne Mowatt, 49, in the shoulder, side and back while she sat on the bench and watched her two grandchildren.

The woman did not see the gunman, but she heard the shots and felt pain, CBS2's Smith reported. Her condition was reported to be stable late Tuesday.

"Bullets don't have a name. So you've got to watch where you go, who you're with, the time, the area – it doesn't matter what place or what time," a woman at the playground said. "You've just got to check your surroundings, honestly."

"I'm not afraid to sit here, but I am getting ready to get the hell up," said another woman sitting on the same benches.

Police said the woman's grandchildren witnessed the shooting, since she was watching them as they went down the slide.

Police collected five .40-caliber shell casings behind the Sutter Avenue building outside the playground sources told CBS2.

Investigators said police canvassed the area for surveillance video, but did not have any luck.

Nothing indicated that Mowatt was more than an innocent victim – she does not have a criminal record, and she lives in an apartment building about half a mile from the playground, sources said.

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