Shots Ring Out Steps From Daycare Center In New Rochelle
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Children were just steps away Tuesday when gunfire erupted on a quiet street in New Rochelle, over what may have been a road rage incident.
As CBS2's Lou Young reported, the shots rang out at Clinton Avenue and Thomas Place under clear blue skies around 1 p.m. The children in the nearby New Rochelle Day Nursery were just finishing up lunch at the time.
Two cars passed each other at a three-way intersection as the bullets flew, Young reported.
Parents and children were outside enjoying the day when the gunfire erupted.
"It's frightening – it is absolutely frightening," said Marcia Lyttle of New Rochelle.
The burst of gunfire was exchanged between two cars that pulled up to the intersection. Neighbor Charles Davis said he heard multiple shots before the cars took off.
Residents heard the shots around the block. Inside the daycare only steps away, rattled workers hurried off without comment, and at the door, there were simple assurances that no one inside had been hit.
"Everyone's fine," a daycare representative said. "Everyone's fine -- that's all I've got to say."
As New Rochelle police swept up the remnants of tinted window glass at the scene, an alert went out for two cars seen driving away.
It was unclear what sparked the shooting. A letter sent to parents from the daycare center called it a road rage incident.
"It's a shame that we've come to this where we have to pull out guns over something simple as when they just could have just had a conversation about it or something," said neighbor Jeanette Dicks.
One car was later pulled over on the Cross County Parkway in Yonkers by Westchester County police, who arrested the driver and recovered a gun. The suspect tried to flee and was injured and was arrested in Valhalla, police said.
The second car was discovered near Mount Vernon Hospital, where the driver apparently showed up at the emergency room with gunshot wounds.
Police were operating under the theory that the two men knew each other.