(CNN) — A 12-year-old boy eating in a parked car in New York City was shot dead, and a relative seated with him was seriously injured, as people from two other vehicles exchanged gunfire Thursday night, police said Friday.
It appears the boy and his relative, a 20-year-old woman, were mistakenly caught in the gunfire exchange in Brooklyn, and were not targets, a New York Police Department spokesperson said Friday.
An 8-year-old girl in the car with the boy and woman was not injured, police said. No arrests have been made, and police are trying to find the people involved in the shootout.
It was one of the latest examples of gun violence in New York City, where statistics show crime is up in every major category, which includes murder, rape, robbery and others.
“We are actually pleading for the public’s help and assistance in helping us solve this case,” Michael Kemper, assistant chief of NYPD Brooklyn South, said at a news conference Thursday night.
The driver, a Brooklyn woman, had pulled over so she and the children could eat some food, and shots were fired around 7:45 p.m., police said at Thursday’s news conference.
The gunfire came from people in two dark colored sedans, police said in a Friday news release. “A preliminary investigation determined that the victims were eating in the vehicle” when the shooting happened, the news release reads.
The boy, in the front passenger seat, was shot more than once, including once in the head, police said Friday.
The woman in the driver’s seat also was shot multiple times. She was taken to a hospital and was in surgery Thursday night, but is expected to survive, according to police. She was in critical condition, police said Friday.
The uninjured girl was in a back seat, police said. The names of the three were not released.
Joe Gulotta, deputy chief of NYPD Brooklyn South, asked the public in a news conference Thursday night to call in tips about two sedans that left the shooting scene.
New York Mayor Eric Adams said guns on New York City streets was a problem that needed fixing.
“It’s time for it to stop,” Adams said at the news conference. “That’s why we’re here. We’re going to do our job. We need everyone to help us, ending this senseless violence.”
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.