72-year-old woman shot by bullet sitting in her Queens home
NEW YORK - A Queens home was riddled with bullets Monday night, striking a 72-year-old woman inside.
The suspect took off.
As CBS2's Aundrea Cline-Thomas reports, Margaret Henry has lived there for 30 years. Her home was passed down from her parents.
Last night, her husband had to be rushed to the hospital, and when she returned home alone and went inside, shots rang out.
"There was no warning. It was 'bop bop bop bop bop bop.' A lot of people were shooting," Henry said. "Look at my window there. It's a lot of wickedness going on."
It was just before 11:30 p.m. Monday when neighborhood surveillance video captured the sound of gunshots on 128th Street, directly aimed at Henry's home. Ten bullets mainly pierced the windows. Henry was struck in the arm.
"Where I was sitting wasn't really in the line of fire, but still I got hit because I was on the side, and I guess when I tried to move, my arm got hit," she said.
The bullets pierced the façade of the home and kept going, one coming through the interior wall, and three striking the refrigerator.
"If I was still in that chair, I would be dead right now because the chair is in ... the path of the gunfire," Henry said.
Henry says it was no accident.
"I am very peaceful here. I don't bother nobody. I don't know why they targeted my house exactly," she said.
The 72-year-old is now a part of a dreaded list of nearly 600 gun violence victims so far this year. While the numbers of shootings are beginning to decline when compared to last year, they have surged since 2020.
The New York City Police Department says there were 319 murder cases in 2019. In 2020, there were 468, and in 2021, there were 488.
This as the entire country is grappling with how to address gun violence.
From Queens to bullets in Brooklyn and a mass shooting in Buffalo, the state joins the nation as it grapples with gun violence.
"There must have a national approach to this and include national solutions," Mayor Eric Adams said.
Adams joined the mayor of Buffalo and those from five other cities from across the state to address the pervasive issue as Gun Violence Awareness Month is set to begin.
"No matter the motivation of the person behind the weapon, this is the time we are standing up and saying no more," Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said.
"The shooting that took place in Buffalo is no different than the shootings that take place on Buffalo Avenue in Brooklyn," Adams said.
Adams called on a national solution, from a crackdown on dangerous social media posts to more funding to take guns off the streets and improve mental health resources.
"It's time to give the resources to our cities and states that will ensure that we can provide the necessary mental health care," he said.
For now, discussions alone don't ease the concerns for Margaret Henry and her family.
"Physically, she seems like she's going to be fine, but mentally, it's going to be a problem," said her son Lynroy Henry.
She came back to her home to just gather a few things, with no plans to return for good. Her son says she will go and live with the family, permanently.
The NYPD says Henry was not the intended target, but they have not provided any information about the shooters.
Meanwhile, police are still looking for those responsible. Anyone with any information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or via DM on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.
