A 10-year-old from New York was fatally shot while at a family barbecue over the weekend, possibly as a result of a dispute between neighbors.
Justin Wallace of Queens, New York, was shot and killed on Saturday night around 9:30 p.m., just days before his 11th birthday. His family believed the shooting stemmed from a long-running dispute with neighbors over the driveway.
“Can you imagine that, man? Three days before his birthday,” Albert Wallace, the boy’s father, said, according to the New York Daily News. “I don’t know how I’m going to deal with this …. for a driveway? You’re gonna kill my son over stupid things?”
TWO ARRESTED IN CONNECTION TO ROAD RAGE SHOOTING DEATH OF 6-YEAR-OLD CALIFORNIA BOY
Video of the shooter, released by the New York Police Department, appears to show the gunman firing repeatedly through the front door of the home. The alleged shooter can be seen pulling up to the front of the house in Rockaway, Queens, in a dark SUV before getting out of the vehicle.
Over the weekend, the family said they believe the shooter to be the neighbor with whom they have had tension, though he has a solid alibi, according to the New York Daily News.
Kyle Forrester, 29, the younger Wallace’s cousin, was also shot, but he was hit in the right shoulder and will survive. Forrester reportedly argued over parking with the neighbor earlier in the day.
On Saturday, Albert Wallace had taken his son and a schoolmate to the beach before the family event.
“I said, ‘Listen, let’s go!’ Because with the pandemic situation, these kids don’t get out of the house. So that’s why I said, let me make it my point of duty to take him because that’s where he wants to go,” he said. “They were all there, playing. One hour turned into four hours. I said, ‘You know what, you need this.’ I said, ‘OK, have fun, son.’”
Toward the end of the barbecue, the father went to the basement to help his sister with a maintenance problem.
“That’s when I turned back with my son,” Albert Wallace said. “If I didn’t turn back, my son would be alive today.”
When police arrived at the scene, they found Justin Wallace unconscious and unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the torso, an NYPD spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. He was transported to St. John’s Episcopal Hospital, which is where he was later pronounced dead.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“I see my son laid down at the door, curled up,” he added. “When I turn him over, I see this puddle of blood. And I’m saying, ‘No no no.’ And at the time, I heard a [sigh], so I don’t know, that could probably be the last breath he takes because he had internal bleeding.”
New York has seen an increase of 77% in shootings through the end of May, with 637 being shot this year, compared to 360 through the same point last year. There have been 173 killings compared to 147 during that same time frame, a roughly 18% increase.
The NYPD did not immediately return the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
