14-year-old Prince Shabazz shot and killed in the Bronx, police searching for 2 suspects caught on video
NEW YORK - Police have identified the 14-year-old boy who was shot and killed in the Bronx Wednesday night.
As CBS2's Kristie Keleshian reports, surveillance video shows two men charging at 14-year-old Prince Shabazzz Wednesday night in the Fordham Heights section when police say he walking to a friend's house with his brother before he was shot and killed outside a Bronx apartment building.
The two suspects, seen wearing black while walking down Morris Avenue, crossed the street before the shooting. The video shows them fleeing the area and one carrying a handgun.
"It's bad, bad, bad," said Carlos Beles, a Fordham Heights resident. "I'm sorry, man, about the kid."
Beles, who works maintenance at an apartment building at the scene of the shooting, said he often worries about his safety.
"People ask me how come you don't come outside. I've got no reason to be outside. Things are bad. It's all over the place," said Beles.
"Literally no one deserves this," said David Caba.
Caba is vice president of Good Shepherd Services, B.R.A.G - or Bronx Rises Against Gun Violence. B.R.A.G. is a local organization that identifies what it calls violently injured, at-risk young people in the Bronx community and link them to much-needed social services.
Even 14-year-old Shabazz was part of the organization, which is seeing more violence in the borough than usual. That means it's all hands on deck now.
"We sometimes move in a 24-hour mode in overlapping shifts so that we make sure that this tide of violence can't continue. This is a new strategy that we've been developing," Caba said.
Caba organized an event set for Thursday night that was supposed to amplify B.R.A.G.'s message of "enough is enough," but even it was canceled due to safety concerns.
"If you have a shooting on Monday, a shooting on Wednesday, a block apart, then there might be more happening than meets the eye," Caba said.
Shabazz himself was supposed to be at that event. It was in response to a shooting that took place Monday night nearby. Police say the 14-year-old wasn't on their gang radar, but may have been targeted in the shooting because of drill rap, or lyrically insulting rap, tracks that he made.
Caba says tackling the iron pipeline that brings guns to the borough would end gun violence in the borough.
"It's very simple. If housing is improved, if education is improved, if healthcare is improved, if employment is improved, guess what happens to crime rates? Guess what happens to violence? It decreases."
B.R.A.G. is hope to move its shooting response event to this Saturday.
Part of the building's door was shattered in the shooting and at least two parked cars were hit by bullets. There were bloody spots on the sidewalk Thursday morning.
NYPD statistics show a spike in the number of teen shooting victims in the city in recent years:
- 2017: 41 victims
- 2018: 43 victims
- 2019: 47 victims
- 2020: 83 victims
- 2021: 93 victims
As of Sept. 1, there were 119 victims this year.
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.
