NEW YORK — A mother struggles to survive in a Manhattan hospital as the neighbor who shot her during a heated argument in the hallway continues to elude police.
The shooter was still at large from police on Friday, two days after he allegedly shot his 41-year-old neighbor who police say tried to break up a fight on the sixth floor of their East Harlem apartment building.
Neighbors and friends have been in shock since the 8am shooting at the Lincoln Houses on East 135th Street sent the mother to hospital in critical condition. Investigators say he was shot in the head, stomach and thigh.
Nicole Williams says she has been friends with the victim for years and ran into the building after hearing the news.
“My son lives here. They called me and said a neighbor who just moved here shot him in the head,” Williams said.
Police say the victim was in the hallway Wednesday morning when his neighbor, Avery Dunning, pulled out a gun and shot the woman.
“I love her. She’s not a bad person, she was probably trying to do the right thing,” Williams said.
The New York Police Department released a first look at the suspected shooter Thursday night, identifying the 35-year-old wanted in the morning gun violence.
“We’re seeing guns come into our community in such an accessible way that instead of what people would normally do, chat and go home, the gun is so accessible that’s what’s come out for resolve the conflict,” said Lesha Sekou of Street Corner Resources, a neighborhood nonprofit that fights gun violence.