NYPD searching for suspects after 64-year-old Valeria Ortega shot and killed in Inwood
NEW YORK -- A 64-year-old woman was shot and killed on her way to a supermarket Monday in Inwood. Police confirm she was an innocent bystander.
CBS2 obtained surveillance video that, according to police, shows the suspects riding away from the crime scene.
The woman, identified as Valeria Ortega, was walking near Dyckman Street and Vermilyea Avenue when she was shot. The gunfire also hit an SUV parked near the intersection.
Video shows Ortega was wheeling a cart down the street. Vicente Garcia, her husband, said she was heading to the store.
Garcia said his son approached him in a panic after the shooting and said, "Look at my mother."
"It's a nightmare today," Garcia said.
The video we obtained shows two people on a two-wheeled scooter riding down Dyckman Street. The NYPD is looking for them.
Amaury Bujosa said he was leaving a medical clinic nearby when the shooting happened.
"She was just walking," said Bujosa. "We heard a big bang and I saw a lot of people rushing and running. Then we looked over and the old lady, she just dropped."
NYPD data shows 22 shootings in the 34th Precinct this year, which is down compared to 2021. There was a shooting earlier in December at an Inwood deli and another one on Monday that was not connected to Ortega's.
"I'm worried about myself, my neighbors' safety," said Bujosa, who was heartbroken that a mother senselessly lost her life.
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.
