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4-Year-Old Boy Fatally Shot During Charity Basketball Game In The Bronx
By
John Del Signore
Published Jul 23, 2012
Modified Jul 23, 2012
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jul 23, 2012
Modified Jul 23, 2012
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About 100 people were gathered for a memorial basketball tournament on a court on East 165th Street in the Bronx last night when gunfire broke out, hitting three people. The wild shootout claimed the life of 4-year-old Lloyd Morgan, who was in the playground next to the court when he was killed around 9:35 p.m. Police say Morgan was shot in the head and later died at Lincoln Hospital. A 27-year-old man was also shot in the abdomen, and a 21-year-old man was shot in the arm—they're both listed in stable condition.
The “First Annual Ghetto Angels Basketball Tournament" was intended as a memorial for a 15-year-old girl who was stabbed to death one year ago, residents of the Forest Houses tell the Daily News. “It was a nice day,” said one witness. "People are all out and before you know it — it was Pop! Pop! Pop!" Another witness, Tyshawn Norris, tells CBS 2, "There was little kids in the park and they just started shooting."
A third witness tells the News that a man known as Spidey started shooting at someone playing basketball, and the basketball player returned fire, hitting Morgan. Investigators are still searching for suspects and no arrests have been made. Morgan is the second child victimized by gunfire on a playground this month—3-year-old Isaiah Rivera was shot while playing in a sprinkler at the Roosevelt Houses in Bed-Stuy. Unlike Morgan, Rivera survived that shooting, and two arrests have been made.
State Assemblyman Eric Stevenson, who rushed to the scene of last night's shooting, tells the Post the incident has forced him to rethink his criticism of the NYPD's stop-and-frisk policy. "There is a 4-year-old dead. Now we should really consider not stopping stop-and-frisk,” Stevenson told the Post. "I’m going to have to start supporting stop-and-frisk. We need to give the police leverage to use stop-and-frisk. They should be allowed to do it."
Tagged
lloyd morgan
shooting
the bronx
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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