By Kanishka Singh
April 1 (Reuters) – A 7-month-old girl in a stroller was shot and killed in Brooklyn on Wednesday by stray gunfire in a suspected gang-related shooting, top city officials said.
Shots were fired in the afternoon on a Brooklyn street where police said there were several adults, two strollers and many children.
The baby’s mother and father ran into a nearby bodega for cover. Upon looking down into the stroller, they saw their daughter covered in blood, according to an NBC News affiliate.
The suspected shooter was in custody, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters.
“At this time, this shooting is believed to be gang-motivated, with the victim being an unintended target,” Tisch said. It was not immediately clear which group or groups were involved in the incident.
She added the investigation into the incident was ongoing.
The girl was taken to Woodhull Hospital where she was pronounced dead, the police commissioner said.
“A life that had barely begun was taken in an instant,” New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a press conference.
“Today is a devastating reminder of how much more work there is to be done to combat gun violence across this city,” the mayor added.
While gun violence and shootings are common in the United States, the New York City Police Department reported in January that 2025 was the city’s safest year ever for gun violence in data going back to 1994. The city recorded 688 shooting incidents in 2025, the department said, down 24% from 2024.
Video recovered from the scene showed two males on a moped driving against traffic when one took out a gun and discharged at least two rounds, the police commissioner said.
The suspects drove away and the moped later crashed into a car, Tisch said.
She added that police took into custody one of the men who “fits the description of our shooter, based on both clothing and appearance,” while the other suspect is still being sought.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Chris Sanders and Edmund Klamann)
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