A 16-year-old girl was fatally struck by a stray bullet outside a high school in Morrisania on Monday afternoon during a violent altercation between teenagers, police said.
The shooting happened shortly after 5 p.m. near Bronx Career and College Preparatory High School, located at Home Street and Tinton Avenue. Officers from the 42nd Precinct responded to a ShotSpotter activation and multiple 911 calls. The girl, who has been identified as Evette Jeffrey who lived on Tinton Avenue, was found with a gunshot wound to the head and was rushed to Lincoln Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
According to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, the violence began when “a fight breaks out between a group of youths in the walkway when a male wearing a white t-shirt and shorts is punched in the face by another male, and the first male falls to the ground.”
During the scuffle, police said a gun was handed to a 14-year-old boy who opened fire. The bullet missed its intended target and struck Jeffrey in the head.
“Our victim is seen riding from the schoolyard toward the walkway on a scooter. She does not engage in the fight and immediately walks over to another male at the edge of the group, who attempts to pull her behind a brick wall for cover. When the shots are fired, our victim, who we believe to be an unintended target, is struck, and she immediately falls to the ground,” Tisch added.
The suspected gunman fled the scene and remains on the run.
Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson said the victim’s mother was inconsolable at Lincoln Hospital and urged the public to pray for the family.
Mayor Eric Adams, who visited the site of the shooting, was met by emotional residents and parents demanding more after-school programs and increased security.
“We just wanted to come here out to this community, and when you lose a child like this, we know that we have an obligation to create safe environments for young people, and that is what we try to do every day,” Adams said. “To lose a young child, it really impacts us.”
The NYPD investigation remains ongoing.
Christian Murray contributed to this story
