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Justin Streeter of Plainfield had just stopped at an East 128th Street deli with a friend and was riding a push scooter when gunfire erupts around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, the NYPD said.
"As they're walking towards the corner of Park Avenue a male emerges on the corner and fires a volley of gunshots at the two young men," said Jeffrey G. Maddrey, the department's chief of patrol.
It was unclear why, the chief said.
The boys ran between two vehicles, but a bullet struck Justin the head, Maddrey said. Another hit his 15-year-old companion in the leg, he said.
The shooter, wearing a grey sweatshirt and blue jeans, fled west on 128th Street toward Madison Avenue, police said surveillance video shows.
Justin died overnight Wednesday at Harlem Hospital, authorities confirmed. His friend was in stable condition, they said.
A witness told police Streeter had returned to the neighborhood to say final goodbyes after moving with his family to Union County, presumably to escape the ghetto.
"We're desensitized to the shootings in our community because we hear it so frequently," Kioka Jackson, the president of the 25th Precinct Community Council, told reporters. "How do we get our young people back?"
Maddrey, the patrol chief, was angered by the attack.
“We shouldn’t be scared to walk out into our streets in the broad daylight in the middle of the afternoon and feel like we’re going to be victims of gun violence,” he told reporters.
He asked that anyone with information that could help identify the killer call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
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