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3 Arrests Made In Shooting Death Of Brownsville Mother Of 13

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police have made three arrests in connection with a rooftop shooting that left a mother of 13 dead and a young girl injured in Brooklyn.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Andrew Lopez, 18, confessed to the shooting death of Zurana Horton last Friday.

"We're certainly pleased with the fact that the investigation has identified Mr. Lopez and he's made statements and apparently made a full confession," Kelly said.

1010 WINS' Eileen Lehpamer Reports From Brooklyn

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"It is a great relief that someone has been caught for the crime that has been committed," the victim's stepfather, Kenneth Thompson, told CBS 2's Derricke Dennis. "There can never be closure. I have 12 grandchildren right now who will never have the comfort of their mother tucking them to sleep every night."

Kelly said Lopez opened fire from a rooftop sending bullets into a crowd of parents and students in a "retaliation" shooting in Brownsville last week stemming from a gang-related dispute involving his brother.

"He's made statements that he fired his weapon from the rooftop and resulted in the death of the woman who was protecting those three young children in front of the supermarket," Kelly said.

1010 WINS' Eileen Lehpamer reports police tracked down Lopez based on a tip.

A second suspect Jonathan Carrasquillo, 22, was charged with murder, two counts of felony assault, criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment in connection with the shooting. A third suspect, Kristian Lopez, 17, has also been charged with criminal possession of a weapon, according to police.

The Horton family paused to look at the makeshift memorial outside of the Bushwick building where their beloved relative grew up.

Horton's sister, Asia, told Lehpamer that Zarana will finally be able to rest in peace following the arrests.

"All of us will be in peace, this is what we've been waiting for," she said.

Asia Horton also noted that her sister has given birth to 13 children and that one of her daughters died of pneumonia at the age of 9.

Religious leaders in Brooklyn were among the many at the 73rd Precinct in Brownsville waiting for hours to see three suspects under arrest.

"I think the community has a conscious awareness now that, guess what, they're tired of it too.  They want to see peace in their own community," Bishop Gerald Seabrooks told CBS 2's Derricke Dennis.

Police said  Horton, who was killed, was not the intended target of the shooting.

Shots rang out around 2:30 p.m. Oct. 21 at the intersection of Pitkin Avenue and Watkins Street near P.S. 298 where students had just been dismissed 13 minutes earlier.

Horton died instantly when bullets hit her in the face and chest. She is being regarded as a hero after police said she was seen hovering over a group of children to protect them as the shots were fired.

Makeshift Memorial For Zurana Horton
Makeshift memorial outside the Brooklyn apartment where Zurana Horton grew up. (credit: Eileen Lehpamer, 1010 WINS)

Sixth-grader Cheanne McKnight, 11, sustained a graze wound to the cheek.  McKnight told CBS 2 on Monday that "before I got to run the bullet had hit me in my face."

A 31-year-old mother was also shot in the arm and chest.

Police discovered seven shell casings on a rooftop about one block away — 1800 Pitkin Ave. Five other shell casings were found in front of that building and authorities believe they came from a gunman's 9mm semiautomatic pistol.

Most of Horton's 12 children, ranging in age from one to 18, will be raised by their grandparents.

There is still no word if anyone has claimed the $12,000 reward that was being offered for information in the deadly shooting.

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