2 students shot, staffer grazed, near charter school in Brooklyn
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NEW YORK - Three people were rushed to the hospital following a shooting near a school in Brooklyn on Wednesday.
It happened just after 2 p.m. on Varet Street near White Street in Williamsburg.
All three are said to be in stable condition at Elmhurst Hospital.
Check below for the latest information.
Witness describes fight that led up to shooting
Two students and a security guard were shot near a Brooklyn charter school Wednesday.
Police say the gunfire broke out after a fight.
The shooting happened around 2 p.m. down the block near the Williamsburg Charter High School.
A parent said it was right before dismissal and fears it could have been a lot worse.
A wooden block is part of what one witness says provoked a fight that eventually lead to shots being fired.
Police say two groups were fighting when someone pulled out a gun. Bullets struck a 15-year-old female student and a 17-year-old male student in the leg. A school security guard has a graze wound to the neck.
"It sounded like fireworks, like popping sound. Pop, pop, pop, three or four times," parent Elizabeth Cabrera said.
Cabrera was picking her son up from school when she says a group of kids were told to go away by security guards. She says then the group came back with one person holding that piece of wood.
"He came, the security grabbed him and said something to him, pushed him aside, and they kept going. Then all of a sudden, something happened that everybody ran. They ran toward somebody in the middle of the intersection, and then you just heard, like, three, four shots. That's when everything broke loose," Cabrera said.
It's not clear if the students shot were targeted or if they were even involved in the fight. They and the security guard are in stable condition at Elmhurst Hospital.
The suspect ran away northbound on White Street. There are no arrests at this time and the motive is not clear.
"I had to drag my son out of the school right now in tears. Kids don't need to go through this stress. Enough as it is. It's dangerous in New York, and then in school? To get out of school?" Cabrera said.
The school said in a statement:
"WCHS can confirm two students and one staff member were injured in today's shooting outside of school. We are cooperating with the police on the on-going investigation. At this time, we can confirm that the two students did not receive life-threatening injuries; however, we cannot speak to the seriousness of all of the injuries. We would like to thank first responders for arriving quickly. We are deeply troubled by today's events. WCHS leadership will be meeting with government officials this week to discuss the recent uptick of violence in our community and how we can work together to keep our students and staff members safe."
Police say the shooter was wearing a mask, as well as black Adidas pants, a white-and-gray hooded sweatshirt and a brown bubble jacket.
Suspect remains at large; Victims in stable condition
Police said at least two students and a school staffer were shot on Wednesday afternoon near a Brooklyn school.
The incident happened at around 2 p.m. down the block from the Williamsburg Charter High School on Varet Street.
The suspect is still at large.
CBS2 was told a 15-year-old female student and a 17-year-old male student were each shot in the leg, and a 37-year-old private security guard at the school suffered a graze wound to the neck.
All three were listed in stable condition.
Police sources said two groups were fighting outside the school when someone pulled out a gun and fired, adding the shooter was wearing a mask, but it's unclear if the shooter was a student.
It's also not clear if the students were the intended targets, or if they were involved in the fight.
Williamsburg Charter High School released the following statement, which said, in part, "We are cooperating with the police on the on-going investigation," adding, "We are deeply troubled by today's events. WCHS leadership will be meeting with government officials this week to discuss the recent uptick of violence in our community and how we can work together to keep our students and staff members safe."
CBS2 spoke with one woman who witnessed it all as she waited for school to let out so she could pick up her child. Elizabeth Cabrera said it all started when school security told a group of kids to go away from the area of the school, and then one of the kids came back with what looked like a wooden block.
"He came, the security grabbed him and said something to him, pushed him aside, and they kept going. Then all of a sudden something happened that everybody ran, they toward toward someone in the middle of the intersection and then you just heard three, four shots and that's when everything broke lose," Cabrera said.
The suspect ran away northbound on White Street.
There have been no arrests and the motive is not clear.
First details: Male, female shot, third person grazed
Two teens were shot - one male, one female.
The male was shot in the leg. The female was shot in the back. Sources say they were both students at the nearby charter school.
An adult staffer at the school was grazed in the neck.
The suspect, described as a male wearing black Adidas pants, a white and grey hooded sweatshirt and a brown bubble jacket, fled on foot with the weapon northbound on White Street.
All three victims are expected to survive.