A 13-year-old boy was fatally shot in the head while he was walking to school, with New York City Mayor Eric Adams saying that the incident is suspected to be gang-related.
Per ABC7 New York, the Monday incident happened in Queens, and the deceased teen was identified as Sanjay Samuel, a high school freshman. The images of the suspect linked to the fatal shooting were shared by the NYPD on Thursday.
Authorities said that the wanted suspect is a 16-year-old male student at Campus Magnet High School. Detectives have also identified him, and they were negotiating his surrender with an attorney at the time of this report.
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Mayor Adams registered his displeasure with criminal justice reform laws which have reportedly caused an increase in shootings involving young victims.
“We will find the person responsible. We are going to ensure they are brought to justice,” Mayor Adams said.
Authorities said that the fatal Monday morning shooting occurred at a Dunkin’ Donuts parking lot. Samuel and his friends were at the said location when an individual on a scooter approached them. An argument and a fight subsequently started, and Samuel allegedly targeted the wanted suspect with punches. The suspect is said to have then drawn his weapon and opened fire, striking Samuel in the head, ABC7 New York reported.
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Samuel succumbed to his injuries at a hospital on Wednesday, his family announced. Authorities also suspect the shooting was targeted.
“Sanjay was the most joyful son I had,” the deceased teen’s mother, Vilene Griffith, said. “My heart is overwhelmed with grief with my Sanjay.”
Griffith also said that her son’s killing had left her “numb” and “speechless.” “That’s something that’s unbelievable,” she said.
Sanjay’s father, Theophilus Samuel, said that he was “so heartbroken” because he “would be at his bedside holding his hand talking to him.”
“Daddy loves you. The whole family loves you,” he added. “We want to see you come back, you know.”
Griffith also urged Mayor Adams to “do something for violence and teens in New York.” “Making new laws better, whether placing more police officers at schools that are at high risk, particularly in the morning and the afternoon,” she said.
CBS reports that the shooting has sparked a debate in the New York City mayor’s race about public safety and the future of the city’s gang database.
Mayor Adams said Democrat frontrunner Zohran Mamdani wants to make it very hard for officers to fight gang violence by eliminating the gang database.
“And so I think that all candidates should think loud and clear how policies impact people on the ground. This mother is grieving,” Adams said. “When you have these tragic shootings, it hits at the core of your feeling of safety. The perception hurts you. So every mother, I’m sure, is worried right now about their child, and their child moving around the city.”
A rep for Mamdani had told CBS News that the Queens assemblyman is not for the database because “it puts an individual on a list on the basis of suspicion rather than fact.”
