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A pregnant 34-year-old Brooklyn woman who had just picked up her child at school was fatally shot in the head as she bravely shielded hers and other children when gunfire rang out on a Brownsville street today, authorities said
Also wounded by shots were an 11-year-old girl grazed by a bullet to the face and another 31-year-old woman who was walking out of P.S./I.S. 298 with her own children right after dismissal at about 2:35 p.m., according to authorities.
"She kept screaming, 'They shot me in the face! They shot my face!' " said the aunt of the 11-year-old victim, Cheyenne McKnight, a 6th-grader.
Benny J. Stumbo
A pregnant woman was killed, her 11-year-old daughter was seriously wounded and another parent was shot today outside PS 298 in Brooklyn.
"I didn't know if she was OK - I just saw a big hole in her face," the aunt, Ximinia Fernandez, told The Post outside of Brookdale Hospital, where she had driven her niece after the horrific shooting. "That poor little girl."
The gunfire began at 2:35 p.m. in front of the Lucky Supermarket on Watkins Street, near Pitkins Avenue, an area plagued by gang activity, according to authorities.
One witness, Jay Williams, 45, told The Post that the shooting -- less than a block from the school -- was sparked by a confrontation between a man and group of young people.
"Kids were throwing rocks at this guy. He told them to stop," Williams said. "Next thing you know, he let off several shots."
But police are eyeing the possibility that the gunman fired from a block away, from the roof of 1800 Pitkin Avenue -- where seven shell casings were later found -- and that he was firing at the group of youths arguing below, said NYPD spokesman Paul Browne.
Five other shell casings found on the sidewalk right in front of that building are believed to have come from the rooftop gunman’s 9mm semi-automatic pistol.
When the unidentified 34-year-old woman, who was with her own child, heard the gunshots, she grabbed that kid and others around her "to protect them as the shots were fired," Browne said.
Her dramatic sacrifice was caught on a surveillance video, sources said.
Maxine Thompson, 45, who lives near the shooting scene, said, "I heard the gunshots, about nine rapid shots."
When she walked outside to see what happened, Thompson said, she saw a woman dead on the street.
"She had bullet wounds to her face, her face was torn off," Thompson said. "All her ear, like torn off."
"I seen a little girl with a bullet hole in her face," Thompson said of the 6th-grade girl, Cheyenne.
The other witness, Williams, said the woman who died was about five months pregnant, and lives in the neighborhood.
The third victim was identified by a cousin as Unique Mobily, who said she was shot in the arm and chest as she walked from the school with her kids.
"She says she's OK, I talked to her," said Mobily's cousin, who did not give his name. "She's in pain, she's hurting."
"She had her two little babies with her."
Mobily and Cheynee were being treated at Brookdale Hospital.
Three men, one with a black hoody and a second in dark clothing, fled from the scene eastbound on foot on Pitkin Avenue and entered 1801 Pitkin Avenue, according to Browne, the police spokesman. One person was being questioned by cops in that building, but has not been identified yet as a suspect.
Two people inside 1800 Pitkin Avenue were being questioned but have not been identified as suspects, Browne said.
Two suspects, including the gunman, are still being sought.
Police were obtaining a search warrant to search an apartment at 1800 Pitkin Avenue, sources said.
"This area's a high-crime area, especially at night and during school," said Thompson. "They don't care about no school here." "It's crazy."
A $12,000 reward is being offered for information in the case.
"I didn't know if she was OK - I just saw a big hole in her face," the aunt, Ximinia Fernandez, told The Post outside of Brookdale Hospital, where she had driven her niece after the horrific shooting. "That poor little girl."
The gunfire began at 2:35 p.m. in front of the Lucky Supermarket on Watkins Street, near Pitkins Avenue, an area plagued by gang activity, according to authorities.
One witness, Jay Williams, 45, told The Post that the shooting -- less than a block from the school -- was sparked by a confrontation between a man and group of young people.
"Kids were throwing rocks at this guy. He told them to stop," Williams said. "Next thing you know, he let off several shots."
But police are eyeing the possibility that the gunman fired from a block away, from the roof of 1800 Pitkin Avenue -- where seven shell casings were later found -- and that he was firing at the group of youths arguing below, said NYPD spokesman Paul Browne.
Five other shell casings found on the sidewalk right in front of that building are believed to have come from the rooftop gunman’s 9mm semi-automatic pistol.
When the unidentified 34-year-old woman, who was with her own child, heard the gunshots, she grabbed that kid and others around her "to protect them as the shots were fired," Browne said.
Her dramatic sacrifice was caught on a surveillance video, sources said.
Maxine Thompson, 45, who lives near the shooting scene, said, "I heard the gunshots, about nine rapid shots."
When she walked outside to see what happened, Thompson said, she saw a woman dead on the street.
"She had bullet wounds to her face, her face was torn off," Thompson said. "All her ear, like torn off."
"I seen a little girl with a bullet hole in her face," Thompson said of the 6th-grade girl, Cheyenne.
The other witness, Williams, said the woman who died was about five months pregnant, and lives in the neighborhood.
The third victim was identified by a cousin as Unique Mobily, who said she was shot in the arm and chest as she walked from the school with her kids.
"She says she's OK, I talked to her," said Mobily's cousin, who did not give his name. "She's in pain, she's hurting."
"She had her two little babies with her."
Mobily and Cheynee were being treated at Brookdale Hospital.
Three men, one with a black hoody and a second in dark clothing, fled from the scene eastbound on foot on Pitkin Avenue and entered 1801 Pitkin Avenue, according to Browne, the police spokesman. One person was being questioned by cops in that building, but has not been identified yet as a suspect.
Two people inside 1800 Pitkin Avenue were being questioned but have not been identified as suspects, Browne said.
Two suspects, including the gunman, are still being sought.
Police were obtaining a search warrant to search an apartment at 1800 Pitkin Avenue, sources said.
"This area's a high-crime area, especially at night and during school," said Thompson. "They don't care about no school here." "It's crazy."
A $12,000 reward is being offered for information in the case.
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