Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
8-Year-Old On Being Shot: "It Felt Bad. It Felt Real Bad."
By
Ben Yakas
Published Feb 24, 2012
Modified Feb 24, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Ben Yakas
Published Feb 24, 2012
Modified Feb 24, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
On Tuesday night, an 8-year-old was shot in the shoulder by a gunman on a bike in the Bronx. Armando Bigo, who is currently recovering from his wound at Jacobi Medical Center, described being hit by a stray bullet: “I was looking at the chips,” he told the Daily News. “I just wanted some chips. Someone opened the door and shot me...I don’t think I was brave. I got shot.”
Armando had asked his mother Ely Flores to buy him some chips just before 8 p.m. at the Papa Yala’s Deli on Randall Ave. near St. Lawrence Ave. in Soundview on Tuesday. Police believe the gunman was targeting another man who was in the front of the bodega. As you can see in the surveillance video of the incident below, Armando barely flinched when he was hit: “I felt this pain. I didn’t know what it was. It felt bad. It felt real bad.”
Armando, a second-grader at PS 170 in the Bronx, was most concerned about his mother, who was standing next to him: “I was scared. I ran to my mom. My mom was crying. I didn’t like seeing my mom cry. I don’t remember much else.” Store manager Mahmood Abdulrub told the Daily News yesterday that he sat Armando on a milk crate to try to stop the bleeding: "He was so polite. He looked up at me with his big googly eyes and said, 'Thank you, sir.'" Armando also apologized for spilling blood on the shop's floor: "He kept telling me he had to spit up blood," Abdulrub said. "He was worried about spitting blood on my floor. I kept telling him not to worry about it....It was crazy. This little boy had just been shot and he still remembered his manners."
Armando was treated for a punctured lung, a fractured rib and an injured spinal cord; he has fluid in his lungs because of the bullet. Doctors say the bullet is still lodged below a bone in his neck, next to a major artery. They are hoping it will move naturally to a place where it will be safer to extricate. Police haven't made any arrests in the shooting yet, but Police Commissioner Ray Kelly wrote a fiery editorial yesterday vowing to continue the fight against illegal guns.
Flores says her son is anxious to leave the hospital: “He wants to go home, but not to his home. He’s still afraid to go outside.”
Tagged
armando bigo
bike-by
bodega
bravery
bronx
gun violence
manners
shooting
stray bullet
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Queens man found dead, police say, and injured woman is his mother, neighbors say
Police are investigating a related incident in which a 62-year-old woman was found injured beneath the Van Wyck Expressway.
By
Charles Lane
Published Oct 14, 2026 at 7:39 p.m. ET
Man shot by ICE in NYC's Marble Hill said federal officers never identified themselves
The wounded man said he didn't learn ICE agents were involved until he woke up in the hospital.
By
Arya Sundaram
and
Samantha Max
News
Man shot by ICE in NYC's Marble Hill said federal officers never identified themselves
The wounded man said he didn't learn ICE agents were involved until he woke up in the hospital.
By
Arya Sundaram
and
Samantha Max
Brooklyn school dean says MTA officers assaulted him over a $3 bus fare he says he paid
By
Carol Chen
National Grid customers in NYC will see higher gas bills this winter
By
Rosemary Misdary
Bruce Blakeman joins Gov. Hochul in support for expanding NY rape law
By
Jon Campbell
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .