Students At PS 112 Allowed To Go Home Following Nearby Shooting
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - A shooting in the Bronx prompted a nearby school to order its students and staff to shelter in place, the Department of Education said.
Shots were fired at around 9 a.m. near East 229th Street and Laconia Avenue in the Wakefield section of the Bronx.
A man in his late 40s was shot dead just steps away from the school minutes after classes began, CBS 2's Tony Aiello reported.
The gunman drove up in a rental van and opened fire, shooting the victim, Aiello reported. The shooter got out of the van, fired several more times, got back in the van and drove away, Aiello reported.
Police responded to the scene and are searching for a suspect.
The school has some 500 students. The shelter order was later lifted, and students were dismissed at the usual time.
"I'm panicking because they won't let me in," said Ceevah Coleman, whose grandchild attends the school, before the order was lifted. "Being a grandma, you want to see the child to make sure the child is OK."
"It could've hit a child going to school," said Elizabeth Gill of the 47th Precinct Community Council. "If it had happened a half hour earlier, parents and children would've been out here."
Gill has been working very closely with the precinct commander to raise concerns about recent homicides in the area, Aiello reported. There have been four homicides in 47th precinct so far this year, versus none from the same period last year, Aiello reported. Consequently, Police Commissioner William Bratton is ordering a "Project Impact," which will flood the area with more than 50 additional police officers in the days ahead.
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