12-Year-Old Girl Brain Dead After Being Struck By Stray Bullet In Paterson
PATERSON, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A 12-year-old girl who was gunned down while riding a scooter with friends was on life support, on Sunday night.
Paterson police believe the shooter was aiming at someone else when Genesis Rincon was struck around 8:40 p.m. Saturday on Rosa Parks Boulevard. Two other children who were with her were not injured.
Rincon had left a family gathering to go to a nearby store with another girl and a boy, but the store was closed so the children headed back to the event, authorities said. They were taking turns riding the scooter and were about a block away from the gathering when multiple shots rang out.
The girl was shot in the head and, as of Sunday afternoon, was considered to be brain dead in the hospital.
As CBS 2's Hazel Sanchez reported, loved ones had been stopping by St. Joseph's hospital all day to say goodbye to the bright and beautiful girl.
Rincon's mother Jenny Calderon was inconsolable outside of the hospital on Sunday night.
"Everybody's pretty distraught. It's like you can't make any sense of things like this," family friend Renea Simmons said.
The shooting left neighbors devastated.
"It's not good when you're not safe to come outside your own door and play around in the street. A kid can't be a kid no more. That's sad," Clint Reid said.
Alexis Rincon said that Genesis was his first born. His loss was too great for words.
"You can't make any sense of it. A young girl with her whole life ahead of her. You wonder how could people do things like this? She was a child," Simmons said.
Genesis is expected to come off of life support on Monday. She will leave behind a sister and three brothers. Her family plans to donate her organs in hopes of saving other lives.
A police command center has been set up in the neighborhood where Rincon was shot. Authorities are still searching for the gunman.
Police are offering a $2,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. Authorities are asking people to call 973-523-TIPS.
The incident may be connected to another shooting that happened in the same area earlier Saturday, authorities said. In that shooting, a 26-year-old man was wounded in the leg.
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