A fundraiser was organized for the 1-year-old boy who was shot to death at a cookout in New York City, amid a recent spike in violence in the Big Apple.
Davell Gardner Jr. had been sitting in his stroller on the Brooklyn sidewalk when two men dressed in black fired a series of shots at the group before fleeing the scene. Gardner was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly afterward, police said.
“It was the joy of my life,” the baby’s grandmother, Samantha Gardner, told the New York Daily News. “I got a call saying my grandson was shot.”
1 YEAR OLD KILLED, 3 OTHERS SHOT IN COOKOUT IN NEW YORK CITY
Davell Gardner Jr. was shot to death at a cookout in New York City over the weekend.
(GoFundMe campaign, Kenya Brown)
The others who were shot at the cookout are expected to survive, police said. A 27-year-old man was hit in the ankle, a 35-year-old man was shot in the groin, and a 36-year-old man was shot in the leg, police said.
“They need to stop this armed violence,” Gardner told the newspaper. “I feel like this: You are all ranting and raving about black lives. But you lead a life that was only one and a half years old. And it’s not fair. It is not fair to grandparents. It is not fair to the mother. It’s not fair to the father, to the whole family in general. “
No arrests have been made and an investigation is ongoing, authorities said. The deadly shooting occurred amid yet another violent weekend in New York City.
DE BLASIO REACTS TO THE PICTURES OF A YEAR’S “ BREAKING THE HEART ”: “ THIS IS NOTHING THAT ALLOWS IN OUR CITY ”
“Last night, 4 people were shot at a cookout in Brooklyn, including a 1-year-old boy who died from his injuries,” Police Commissioner Dermot Shea wrote on Twitter on Monday. “These are the very real people affected by senseless gun violence.”
This weekend alone, there were 28 shooting incidents and 35 victims in all five city counties. Compared to just five incidents and six victims during the same period Friday through Sunday last year, the New York Police Department told Fox News.
Brooklyn resident Kenya Brown created a GoFundMe page on behalf of the family that she said would “help pay the legal fees, rewards for finding murderers, funeral expenses, anything.”
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“The family needs answers and they need them now! On behalf of Samantha Gardner and Davell Gardner Sr. (Davell Jr’s grandmother and father), I have organized this campaign,” said Brown. “The family did not ask me to do this, but we can still help this family right now … we need all hands on deck.”
Fox News’ Greg Norman contributed to this report.
