Girl shot in Jamaica, less than 48 hours after teen killed on basketball court

By Jonathan Sperling

A teen girl was shot in Jamaica on Monday, less than two days after another teenager was shot and killed nearby.

The unidentified 16-year-old was standing in front of 89-29 161st St. just before 4 p.m. Monday when shots were fired, cops say. The girl was struck by a bullet in the left shoulder and rushed by EMS to Long Island Jewish Medical Center, where she was in stable condition as of press time Tuesday.

Police from the 103rd Precinct are looking for three suspects thought to be connected to the shooting. All three suspects were caught on surveillance video and described as black men in their teens to early 20's, each with a dark complexion, thin build and wearing black hooded sweatshirts and dark-colored pants. One of the suspects was seen wearing a red jacket with white-colored sleeves.

Less than 48 hours before Monday’s shooting, a seemingly stray bullet killed 14-year-old Amir Griffin while he stood on a basketball court at the Baisley Park Houses in South Jamaica on Saturday. The shooting, which took place less than two miles away from Monday’s shooting, prompted Southeast Queens leaders to state at a media conference that policing is not the solution to stopping gun violence.

“Mr. Mayor, we have got to put our resources into our programs. Why do you consistently want to cut our jobs programs, our after school programs, our beacon programs?” Councilmember Adrienne Adams said. “The administration finds money for things that are important to them. Well this is important to Southeast Queens.”

Adams, as well as Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, called on the city to implement a universal youth job program and invest more in education and community programs.

“Police have a role to play, but if police could solve this problem, it would have been solved a long time ago,” Williams said. “An overreliance on police is not helping. We need them to do their jobs and we need to invest in communities so they can do their jobs.”