NY Mayor Blames 'Oversaturation of Guns' as Woman Shot Dead Pushing Stroller
A 20-year-old woman was fatally shot in the head while pushing a baby stroller in Manhattan on June 29, the New York Police Department said.
According to police, the woman was pushing a stroller on East 95th Street when she was approached and shot in the head at close range by a man who fled the scene on foot at around 8:25 pm.
Police said they believed the baby, who was unharmed, was three months old.
The woman was taken to Metropolitan Hospital Center where she was pronounced dead at 9:20 pm, police said.
The suspect was described as a man wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and black pants. No arrests had been made as of late Wednesday.
“When a mother is pushing a baby carriage down the block […] and is shot in point-blank range, it shows just how this national problem is impacting families,” said New York Mayor Eric Adams at a press conference near the scene.
“We’re going to find this person that’s guilty of this horrific crime. We’re going to find him and bring him to justice,” he said.
Adams said “the oversaturation of guns and dangerous people who repeatedly leave our criminal justice system to continue actions like this” were making things difficult for law enforcement in New York and “across the country”. Credit: NYPD via Storyful
Video Transcript
- Thank you for coming. Joining me here is Mayor Adams, Chief of Department Kenneth Quarry, and Captain Allen from the detective Bureau Manhattan North. I want to remind you the information I'm about to give you preliminary as this incident is only two hours old.
Earlier this evening, at approximately 8:23 PM, officers responded to a report of a person shot opposite 164 East 95th Street. Upon arrival, officers discovered a 20-year-old female, who was unconscious with a gunshot wound to her head. EMS responded to the scene, transported the victim to Metropolitan hospital, where she was pronounced deceased at 9:20 PM.
Our preliminary investigation revealed that the 20-year-old victim was pushing an approximately three-month-old in a baby stroller on East 95th street when an unknown person approached her and fired a single shot into her head from a very close range. Immediately after the shooting, the suspect fled the scene on foot heading eastbound on East 95th Street. He is described as a male, who was last seen wearing a hooded sweatshirt, sweatpants, and black pants, all black.
At this time, there are no arrests. And I am urging anyone who has information that can help us with this investigation to please call us at 1-800-577-TIPS. All tips will be kept strictly confidential. I'll pass it now to the mayor.
ERIC ADAMS: Commissioner. I'm joined here with Councilman Powers and Councilwoman Menin, who both represent parts of Manhattan. This is Councilman Powers district.
Earlier today, the police commissioner and I were with the attorney general, talking about ghost guns. Later in the day, we were with the US Senator, Senator Gillibrand, talking about gun trafficking. This entire day, we have been addressing the problem of the over proliferation of guns on our street, how readily accessible they are, and how there is just no fear in using these guns on innocent New Yorkers, and this is the result of that.
These are real story, real lives, when a mother is pushing a baby carriage down the block or an individual, a woman is pushing a baby carriage down the block and is shot at point blank range, it shows just how this national problem is impacting families. And it doesn't matter if you are on the Upper East Side or East New York Brooklyn, the oversaturation of guns and dangerous people that repeatedly leave our criminal justice system to continue actions like this, it is what's making the New York City Police Department and other law enforcement agencies here in New York, across the country, and across the country, difficult to fight this issue. We're going to continue to do our job.
3,300 guns remove off our streets that we're not allowed to hurt innocent people, and we're going to continue to move forward. But we do need help from Washington from the state, from our criminal justice system. We have been clear on that.
And we're going to find this person guilty of this horrific crime. We're going to find him and bring him to justice. We need the Justice system to make sure this innocent person received that justice that we're asking for.
- That's under investigation at this time, it's too early to say. We're checking history. We'll have more details in the future. We can't confirm that at this time it's under investigation. Thank you.
- Thank you very much.
