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NYPD: Man Kills Sister, Critically Injures Mother In Washington Heights Shooting

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A 13-year-old girl is dead and her mother seriously wounded in a shooting that ended in a gun fight between officers and the woman's son, police said Tuesday.

WCBS 880's Paul Murnane reports

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Reports of gunfire sent police to an apartment at the Polo Grounds Towers at 155th Street and 8th Avenue in Washington Heights at around 3:30 a.m.

"I heard the shots, 'Pop, pop, pop,'" one witness told 1010 WINS' Terry Sheridan.

When cops arrived, they found a 44-year-old woman with multiple gunshot wounds and her 13-year-old daughter shot in the head inside their apartment.

Neighbor Karen Williams said she saw the mother being wheeled out by emergency responders.

"She was on the stretcher, strapped up when the ambulance took her away," Williams told CBS 2's Jessica Schneider. "I just prayed for her. God help her."

The woman, identified in several published reports as Christina Fryar-Brunson, was taken to Harlem Hospital where she is in critical condition. Her 13-year-old daughter, identified as Angie Fryar, died at the scene.

1010 WINS' Terry Sheridan reports

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Police told CBS 2's Pablo Guzman that 28-year-old Steven Murray shot his 13-year-old sister, who may have been pretending to be asleep during the argument, killing the little girl. Police said Murray's mother then came out of the bedroom and her son shot her as well.

"It was heartbreaking. It was heartbreaking," neighbor Monique Davison told Guzman.

"It sounded like the Wild West ... and the amount of time they was firing ... Any death is sad, but a son taking? It's very sad," neighbor Veon Collier said.

Police said Murray went after his mother again, but she managed to keep him out of the bedroom. He reloaded and ran outside. The mother called her sister on the phone. She then called 911. Police saw Murray about a half a mile away on the ramp that leads to the Harlem River Drive. There was a furious exchange of gunfire, police said. Murray was hit in the leg and torso and taken to Harlem Hospital. He is listed in stable condition.

Pistol Used In Polo Grounds Shooting
Police say this is the .22 caliber revolver used by a man in the shooting death of his sister and wounding of his mother at the Polo Grounds in NYC on Apr. 24, 2012. (credit: NYPD)

Since the shooting, police have been stationed around the area as detectives continue the investigation. A .22-caliber revolver was recovered at the scene.

Fryar was a seventh grader at P.S. 46 and students from the school showed up in the neighborhood Tuesday to mourn the death of their classmate.

"I'm scared," Williams told WCBS 880's Paul Murnane. "I hope the killing will stop. They're killing their own sisters and brothers. We're all family. We need each other."

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