A 1-year-old boy was shot and killed during a family barbecue in Brooklyn, New York.
Davell Gardner and his family were on Madison Street in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood Sunday around 11:30 p.m. having a cookout when gunfire erupted, according to police.
“A one year old child is dead. The baby was with his family enjoying a Sunday night in the Summer when someone started shooting . Three people were injured and the baby was killed. This. Must.STOP! We as a community, we as a police department denounce this disgusting violence,” NYPD Chief of Community Affairs Bureau Jeffrey Maddrey tweeted.
A one year old child is dead. The baby was with his family enjoying a Sunday night in the Summer when someone started shooting . Three people were injured and the baby was killed. This. Must.STOP! We as a community, we as a police department denounce this disgusting violence. pic.twitter.com/R66DVO6cTA
— Chief Jeffrey Maddrey (@NYPDCommAffairs) July 13, 2020
Police say the attackers came out of a vehicle and fired at the group of people. The young boy was shot in the stomach and died in the hospital. Three adults were also injured but are expected to survive.
“Crime is up. People [are] shooting and killing each other. Got a lot of hatred going on,” William Berry, a neighbor in the area, said of the shooting. “We’ve got to learn to get together.”
“A one-year-old is among four people shot on Madison Street in Bed-Stuy tonight. The family was enjoying a sidewalk cookout when shots rang out outside Raymond Bush Park. The infant suffered a gunshot wound to the stomach,” NBC New York reporter Myles Miller said on Twitter.
BREAKING: A one-year-old is among four people shot on Madison Street in Bed-Stuy tonight. The family was enjoying a sidewalk cookout when shots rang out outside Raymond Bush Park. The infant suffered a gunshot wound to the stomach. All are expected to survive. pic.twitter.com/kj6nufCOHL
— ????? ?. ?????? (@MylesMill) July 13, 2020
“Please put these guns down. We don’t need this,” another neighbor, Tommy Holiday, said. “When does this stop? Friday, my nephew was killed in East New York. Today, a 1-year-old baby. When does this stop? This is a shame. This is a 1-year-old baby that has seen no life yet.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio addressed Gardner’s death during a press conference Monday, saying he is “heartbroken.”
“We’ve got to take resolve out of every situation like this. We can never give up,” he said. “We can never give up on our children. We can never give up on our families. We can never give up on our neighborhoods — no matter how tough it seems.”
Police officials are asking the public to come forward with any information on the shooting as the suspects are still at large.
The boy’s death comes as city officials report an increase in shootings since protests broke out following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
This weekend, there were 15 shootings in 15 hours across the city, including a 21-year-old who was shot in the head in Brooklyn while sitting in a car.
The number of shootings that took place in the city last week is more than triple the number of shootings that were reported time last year. There have been 43 shootings in the last week compared to 13 during the same time period in 2019.
