A 15-year-old boy who was with him was also shot in the leg and is in stable condition. The 14-year-old, identified as Justin Streeter of Plainfield, New Jersey, died at a Harlem hospital, a New York Police Department spokesman said early Wednesday. The boys had stopped at a deli on East 128th Street just before 4:30 p.m. and headed toward Park Avenue when the shooting occurred, Jeffrey G. Maddrey, the police department’s patrol chief, said at a news conference Tuesday. The 14-year-old was riding a push scooter and the 15-year-old, who has not been identified, was walking, Chief Maddrey said. As the boys walked west toward Park Avenue, a gunman appeared and began shooting at them in what Chief Mandrey said appeared to be a targeted attack. Trying to escape the gunfire, the two boys ran between two cars, the chief said. The 14-year-old fell to the ground and the 15-year-old continued to run away, he said. Officers who responded to the area first encountered the 15-year-old and then discovered the 14-year-old as they cordoned off the scene, he said. Both boys were taken to hospital, where the 14-year-old was later pronounced dead. Detectives were in the early stages of investigating the shooting and had not identified a suspect or determined what relationship, if any, he had to his victims, the chief said. Chief Maddrey condemned the attack and urged New Yorkers to help police apprehend the gunman. “We shouldn’t be afraid to go out on our streets in broad daylight in the afternoon and feel like we’re going to be victims of gun violence,” he said. Derrick Bryson Taylor contributed reporting.
