Five people were shot and one person was killed in Yonkers Sunday evening in what the Yonkers Police Department called a targeted incident.
At approximately 8:43 p.m. on Sunday near Elm Street and Palisade Avenue, within the city center, police received calls of a shooting. Officials said the shooter stepped into the middle of the roadway and shot into a crowd of people. A 20-year-old man was killed after he suffered a gunshot wound to his back.
The remaining four victims, including a 16-year-old boy, two 15-year-old boys and a 14-year-old girl, are all in critical but stable condition after suffering gunshot wounds.
Yonkers PD said another 15-year-old boy was taken into custody at the scene of the shooting where investigators recovered a loaded firearm. Charges against the teen were not released as of Monday morning.
Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano said the entire incident unfolded in only five seconds. An on-duty police captain heard the bullets nearby, officials said, followed the suspect and swiftly apprehended him.
“How does a 15-year-old end up with a gun like that?,” Spano said, shocked by the shooting in an area where he said hasn’t had a homicide since last August.
First Deputy Chief Daniel Campanini said the suspect had not yet been arraigned.
Campanini said at a news conference that the shooting is being investigated as a “group violence” incident at the police department’s gang unit and remains ongoing.
Yonkers Police are deploying a “heavy and constant” police presence where the shooting took place and in nearby areas to deter any potential retaliatory incidents.
