Caught On Camera: Innocent Children Caught In Middle Of Brazen Shooting In The Bronx
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Disturbing video captures a brazen shooting in the Bronx, showing the moment a gunman opens fire at another man in close range.
A gunman appears to ambush his target in the middle of a Mount Eden street, and two innocent children are caught in the commotion.
Video shows a man in red running for his life down the sidewalk. Terrified bystanders duck for cover, and the man topples over two young children instead.
A masked shooter then suddenly appears, gunning his target down in close range.
Watch Kiran Dhillon's report --
"Everybody was ducking, but by the time I looked down, I saw the two kids on the floor and then everything went crazy," witness Mary Gonzalez told CBS2's Kiran Dhillon.
Gonzalez was leaving her apartment around 6:45 p.m. Thursday on Sheridan Avenue near East 172nd Street in the Bronx when she heard the shots ring out.
"They were loud," she said. "Like eight [shots] ... One after another, one after another."
Police sources say the gunman showed up to the shooting on the back of a scooter.
Investigators believe the shooter intentionally sought out the victim.
Once shots rang out, the victim barreled down the street and right into the kids, a brother and sister, who just happened to be in the area.
The victim then appeared to use them as a human shield.
In the video, the 10-year-old girl can be see hugging her 5-year-old brother, all while the gunman keeps firing.
"Pow, pow, pow, pow, it just kept going," neighbor Jasmine Ortiz told CBS2's Ali Bauman.
Ortiz instinctually shielded her own children when she heard the gunshots from her apartment.
"I was at home and I heard the shots, so I threw myself on the floor with my kids," she said.
Nelda Hock and her husband, Wilson Sabino, have lived in the neighborhood for more than 40 years.
"That's cowardly thing to do, yes, very," Hock said.
They're now in shock.
"I was mad. I said, 'You know, they're little kids.' You're going to have something with somebody, do it when there's no kids around," Hock said.
Police say the victim was shot in the back and in both legs. He made his own way to the hospital and is expected to survive.
Dhillon spoke to his family, who says they're glad he's going to be OK.
Sources say the victim has four priors, including an arrest for firing a gun in public in 2015. He's also linked to two street gangs.
Meanwhile the brother and sister, who aren't connected to victim in any way, were not harmed.
Police are now searching for the suspect and the driver of the scooter.
Neighbors say more needs to be done to combat the violence.
"It's sad because in the summer, there's kids out here playing. There's elderly people sitting outside. They don't have a chance to get up and run, god forbid, so it's kind of scary for other people that are not used to this," Gonzalez said.
"It's always problems on this block. I don't know who the people are," Ortiz said.
Shootings are up 64.2% citywide compared to this time last year and have nearly doubled from this time two years ago.
Sources tell CBS2 right now they don't have a motive for this shooting, but police believe it could be gang-related.
Anyone with information is asked to call police.
CBS2's Kiran Dhillon contributed to this report.
