The 12-year-old son of a New York City police officer was shot and killed when gunshots were fired into a crowd outside a Bronx bodega, according to reports.
Two people were injured, and the 12-year-old was killed in the shooting following a fight on Elliot Place near the Grand Concourse around 5:30 p.m. Saturday, authorities told the New York Post.
The young boy, who authorities identified as Jacob Freytes, was shopping at Wanda Deli Grocery when he was shot, News 12 reported.
“He heard a commotion at the store. The bullet went straight into his chest. He fell off his bike,” the 12-year-old’s uncle Julio Lopez told the Post.
Jacob’s father was a sergeant in the NYPD. He was in Connecticut at the time of the shooting, Lopez said.
Surveillance footage released by the United Bodegas Association showed the 12-year-old paying at the deli’s cash register, leaving the store and getting on his bike moments before he was shot.
Immediately after, the footage showed a fight break out in front of him.
The fight involved six men, police sources told the Post. It was not immediately clear what caused the brawl and who was the intended target of the gunfire.
After he was shot, Jacob ran back inside the bodega, holding his shoulder in pain while trying to get help. The footage later showed him collapsing onto the floor, according to the report.
“He was saying hi to the guys on the block,” Lopez said. “He showed respect. He was a good kid. He’s gonna be missed.”
Jacob was taken to an area hospital where he was declared dead, police said.
The two people who were injured include a 25-year-old man who was hit in the buttocks and a 34-year-old man who was struck in the foot. Both men were taken to the hospital in stable condition.
There have been no arrests and authorities have not shared any information about potential suspects. The shooting remains under investigation, police said.
Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson said her “heart is so heavy” following the shooting.
“I am outraged, I’m heartbroken, I’m disgusted, just an unimaginable pain,” she said in a video shared on X.
“A 12-year-old lost his life, an innocent bystander, standing outside of a grocery store with his bicycle, was hit by a bullet that was not meant for him,” Gibson said. “And now he’s gone.”
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani also slammed the shooting, calling it a “heinous act” on X.
“Our children should be able to ride their bikes on a nice summer day in their neighborhood without fear of being shot,” he wrote. “We cannot accept this violence as normal.”
