A 45-year-old man was fatally shot in the head outside a Bronx school Wednesday morning, according to police, prompting a lockdown that sent some worried parents rushing to check on their children.
Police say a gunman pulled up in a U-Haul van to the corner of East 229th Street and Schieflin Avenue outside of PS 112 in Edenwald shortly before 9 a.m., got out of the van and started shooting.
He fired two shots at Lamont Smith, of Yonkers, who fell to the ground, according to NYPD Deputy Inspector Ruell Stephenson. The suspect returned to the van, then briefly reemerged to fire additional shots at the victim before driving off.
The suspect abandoned the vehicle a few blocks away and witnesses told authorities he ran away, police said.
Smith was pronounced dead at the scene.
Students were ordered to shelter in place as a precaution after the shooting, according to the Department of Education.
"All they told us to do was do a shelter drill because they thought they were coming inside but they weren't," said a student named David.
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"I thought we were going to be in danger and all that," the boy said. "Some of our classmates were about to cry."
Frantic parents like Jennifer Oquendo rushed to the school to check on their children when they got word of the police activity there.
"On the way down here, we called the school and they said school was on lockdown," she said. "They said everyone was safe and accounted for, but I'm still nervous. I don't know what's happening outside."
Parent Roy Nelson was "very worried, very scared," and decided to pick up his son at about 2 p.m., shortly after the school's shelter drill was over.
-- Sheldon Dutes and Ida Siegal contributed to this report
