A 38-year-old father and his two-year-old son were shot in the hand and arms in a targeted shooting in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesamt on Thursday afternoon, police authorities stated.
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said the man and his toddler were walking in Herbert Von King Park on Lafayette Avenue when two men approached them at around 2 p.m., NBC New York reported. According to the authorities, the father then overheard one of the men saying, "That's him," before he ran with his child into a community center.
NBC New York reported that the father, who was not identified, was shot at least three times while running into the community center. The toddler, who turned 2-years-old on Thursday, was shot in both arms, while his father was shot once in the hand.
Eyewitness Isaac Mickens told CBS New York, "I heard some gunshots rang out. And I saw a few people, they were on the go, they was moving pretty fast."
"I saw cops running. I saw a baby-cops carrying the kid to the ambulance. They took the kid right away," added fellow witness Derick Martinez.
According to NBC New York, the two victims were taken to Kings County Hospital, where they were undergoing surgery. According to Browne, the father and his son are now listed in stable condition.
Browne told reporters that an officer from the 79th Precinct was one block away during the shooting and managed to catch up to one of the suspects. "This shooting was so close to the police station nearby that a detective who heard the shots looked out the window and actually saw one of the suspects fleeing out of the park," he said.
The man, 19, was arrested inside the basement at 724 Lafayette Avenue and was being questioned by police, NBC New York reported. Police continue to search nearby buildings for the second shooting suspect and the weapon.