76-Year-Old Hospitalized, Another Woman Injured After More Stray Bullet Shootings In NYC
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A 76-year-old woman is recovering in the hospital Saturday morning after a shooting in Queens.
It happened around 10:30 p.m. Friday on Guy R. Brewer Boulevard near 118th Avenue.
Police say an unidentified male individual pulled out a firearm and fired one round at a group of male individuals before running away.
The 76-year-old woman was sitting in her parked car at the time. The bullet came through her passenger side window and grazed the back of her neck.
According to investigators, the woman was not the intended target and she did not see the shooter.
The victim was taken to a local hospital, where she is in stable condition, CBS2's Marc Liverman reports.
Police say if the bullet had struck at even a slightly different angle, it could have killed her.
The suspect is described as a black male with a dark complexion. He has a thin build and curly black hair. He was last seen wearing a navy blue hooded sweatshirt, black jeans and white Nike sneakers.
Web Extra: Police Release Video Of Suspect In Shooting That Injured 76-Year-Old Woman --
Anyone who recognizes the suspect or has information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-8477 or for Spanish, 1-888-577-4782. Tips can also be sent to the NYPDTips Twitter account or submitted online at NYPDCrimeStoppers.com.
A dozen innocent victims have been wounded by stray bullets since the beginning of June:
- On June 4, a 15-year-old girl was shot in thigh while sitting on a bench on a basketball court in Bushwick, Brooklyn. She survived.
- On June 5, a 7-year-old boy was shot in the leg in the Bronx and two elderly women were hit while sitting in their home in Queens.
- On June 7, a woman was shot in the arm in East Harlem.
- On June 10, a man was killed while out walking his dog in Hamilton Heights.
- On June 12, a woman was shot in the arm in the Bronx.
- On June 20, an 11-year-old boy and a 31-year-old man were shot in Crown Heights. The boy might be paralyzed.
- On June 23, there was a triple shooting in the Bronx. At least one of those victims was an innocent bystander.
Early Saturday morning, a 67-year-old woman was also shot in the leg inside the lobby of the George Washington Houses near 99th Street and Second Avenue in East Harlem. Police say she was an innocent bystander who was hit by a bullet when a 29-year-old man and another male suspect got into a fight.
NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill said he and the department are not taking the rash of stray-bullet shootings lightly.
MORE: Police Commissioner O'Neill Implores Public To Provide Information In Rash Of Stray-Bullet Shootings
"It's a tragedy when anybody gets shot, but it's particularly tragic when it's an innocent bystander," O'Neill said.
Police say gangs and drugs are to blame for many of the shootings. O'Neill said curbing gun violence is a job the department can't do alone.