A 15-year-old boy was arrested Thursday in a gang-related shooting that left a teenager two years younger than him injured near a Bronx subway station, law enforcement sources said.
The juvenile suspect is expected to face charges in connection with the July 15 shooting that injured a 13-year-old boy at the intersection of Westchester Avenue and Simpson Street in Longwood, the same sources said.
According to sources, he was arrested by members of the US Marshals Regional Fugitive Task Force and the NYPD.
The victim told investigators that he and his cousin were on their way to the train to a party when they encountered a fight involving more than a dozen children, NYPD Criminal Investigation Chief Joseph Kenny said last month.
Two Citi Bike riders approached the victim and asked him if he was a member of the Ewok or Top 5 gangs – two rival groups in the area, Kenny said.
“(The teenager said, ‘No,’ but they’re still going to fight,” Kenny said. “Guns will be drawn and our victim will be shot.”
The boy suffered gunshot wounds to his left shin and left heel and was taken to Harlem Hospital, where he was treated and released for non-life-threatening injuries.
The victim, who lives in a NYCHA housing development on the Lower East Side, is affiliated with another gang in Lower Manhattan called EBK, short for Everybody Kills, Kenny said.
“There is no reason why EBK would fight with the gangs in the Bronx,” the police officer added. “Apparently they saw a group of kids in front of them that they did not recognize, confronted them and asked which gang they belonged to, at which point shots were fired.”
The Honorable Ralph Sozio, U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of New York, praised the work of law enforcement in getting the young suspect off the streets.
“The U.S. Marshals and the New York Police Department will be tireless in their efforts to ensure the safety of our children,” Sozio said.
