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Montanez, of Yonkers, was shot in the head on Thursday, April 25, near the intersection of Lake and Morningside avenues in Yonkers, police said. The 1th-grader from Lincoln High School was taken to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Initially, a $5,000 reward was offered for information that led investigators to Thompson, who has not been taken into police custody. On Thursday, May 2, that reward was doubled to $10,000.
Thompson is reportedly associated with a gang in the area and is a 15-year-old eighth-grade student at the Linden School in Hawthorne.
Yonkers Police Det. Sgt. Dean Politopoulos said that the initial investigation determined that several people who were familiar with each other were involved in an altercation before the gun went off.
One group wound up allegedly chasing the other, with a suspect, Thompson, displaying a handgun, which went off, striking Montanez in the head, who was uninvolved, Politopoulos said. The suspects then fled the scene.
“Last night. we experienced a tragic event where a young person lost her life due to gun violence,” Yonkers Police Commissioner Charles Gardner said in a statement on Friday, April 26. "First and foremost, our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the victim. The Yonkers Police is dedicating every available resource to apprehend the person responsible for this heinous act. We anticipate an arrest in the near future and will ensure he will be held accountable for his despicable actions.”
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