Toddler Davell Gardner Jr. was killed and three men were wounded after two gunmen opened fire at a family cookout outside the Raymond Bush Playground in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood
The grandmother of a one-year-old boy killed in his stroller near a Brooklyn playground on Sunday hit out at Black Lives Matter Monday.
Samantha Gardner told The New York Daily News: ‘So, when is it going to end? When are these young African American men, when are they going to stop with the shooting and the killing of all these innocent kids? It don’t make any sense.’
Toddler Davell Gardner Jr. was killed and three men were wounded after two gunmen opened fire at a family cookout outside the Raymond Bush Playground in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. The three men were expected to survive.
Calling Davell the ‘joy’ in her life, grandmother Samantha said: ‘They need to stop this gun violence. I feel like this: You all are ranting and raving about black lives. But you take a life that was only a year and half old. And it’s not fair.’
She added: ‘I hope they catch the b******s and put them under the jail cell.’
The boy’s dad Davell Sr. told The New York Post: ‘Stop the gun violence. An innocent soul was taken.’
Gardner Jr. was in his stroller around 11:30 p.m. when two men dressed in black approached, fired and fled, the New York Times reported, citing police. Davell, who was hit in the abdomen, died at the hospital, the Times said.
The boy’s dad Davell Sr. and grandmother Samantha spoke out in the wake of his death
Police said the child had been sitting in a stroller. A stroller was left at the scene as well as several chairs on the sidewalk
The New York Post pictured the child’s mother crying at the scene
Mayor Bill de Blasio observed a moment of silence and declared himself ‘heartbroken’ on Monday over the boy’s death, part of a recent surge of gun violence in the city.
‘It’s just horrifying,’ de Blasio said at a news conference to discuss the coronavirus. ‘A baby boy, Davell Gardner Jr., one years old, playing at a playground. Davell was just starting his life and his life was full of possibilities. And now he’s gone.’
Cops were pictured on the scene at the Marcus Garvey Boulevard and Madison Street cross-section following the shooting.
Gardner Jr. was in his stroller around 11:30 p.m. when two men dressed in black approached, fired and fled, the New York Times reported, citing police. Davell, who was hit in the abdomen, died at the hospital, the Times said.
Police said the child had been sitting in a stroller. A stroller was left at the scene as well as several chairs on the sidewalk.
The toddler passed away around 2.30am on Monday after being transported to Maimonides Medical Center.
The New York Post pictured the child’s mother crying at the scene. The other victims have not been identified.
The sharp rise in shootings in New York, Chicago and other U.S. cities, coming in the midst of the social disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, runs counter to a 20-year trend toward lower crime.
Cops were pictured on the scene at the Marcus Garvey Boulevard and Madison Street cross-section following the shooting
The toddler passed away around 2.30am on Monday after being transported to Maimonides Medical Center
The sharp rise in shootings in New York, Chicago and other U.S. cities, coming in the midst of the social disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, runs counter to a 20-year trend toward lower crime
Davell’s shooting was one of 11 incidents in which 16 people in New York were shot over the weekend, WABC television reported.
Shootings were up more than 50 percent this year over 2019 with 585 incidents reported as of July 5, the New York Times said.
De Blasio mentioned a separate weekend incident in which a 12-year-old was shot in the leg.
‘You can never look away from something like this and be numb to it. I’m just heartbroken today,’ de Blasio said.