An 18-year-old Brooklyn man has been indicted on charges of attempted murder and attempted assault for allegedly opening fire in East New York early one April evening, grazing a 5-year-old girl in the head with a bullet as she played with her siblings on the sidewalk, the district attorney's office announced Tuesday.
Omar Gelin, who lives in the same neighborhood, was initially arrested more than three weeks after the shooting. Attorney information for him wasn't clear.
The victim was playing near the corner of Dumont and Montauk avenues around 5:45 p.m. April 5 when prosecutors allege Gelin fired at least six times at an unknown man walking on the sidewalk in the same area. The shots missed their intended target, striking the little girl moments after she had left her mother's car.
The little girl was treated for a graze wound to the right side of her head at Brookdale Hospital. Surveillance footage recovered by the NYPD allegedly captured Gelin placing a firearm into the trunk of a car, get in the driver's seat and drive off.
Get Tri-state area news and weather forecasts to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York newsletters.
The Nissan Versa he was allegedly seen driving belongs to his father, prosecutors said. Gelin fled to South Carolina after the shooting and was arrested by police officers assigned to the NYPD's 75th Precinct on April 28, officials have said.
Gelin was released on $100,000 bail and ordered to return to court late next month. He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of the top count against him.
News
“This defendant allegedly opened fire multiple times in broad daylight without any concern for the lives he was putting in danger. It is very fortunate that this young victim did not lose her life and that none of her siblings were hurt," Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement Tuesday. "We will never tolerate such reckless gun violence in Brooklyn that far too often jeopardizes the lives of innocent bystanders and will now work to bring this defendant to justice.”
The latest gun violence indictment comes as New York City mourns a 10-year-old Queens boy shot to death while in a house with his uncle just days before his birthday. No arrests have been made in that case.
