A mother in the Bronx struggled to find the words to describe the pain of losing her 16-year-old daughter after a gunman opened fire, hitting three students recently dismissed from high school that police have called "unintended targets."
Angellyh Yambo was gunned down within blocks of her high school Friday afternoon, alongside a 16-year-old girl shot in the leg and 17-year-old boy hit in the buttocks.
"I lost my life, I lost my daughter. I have no words to say or even express to you what I'm feeling right now. I just can't," Yanelli Henrriquez, the teen's mother, told Telemundo 47.
Detectives took the suspected gunman into custody Saturday morning in connection to the rain of bullets that claimed Yambo's life.
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NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell and other top police brass identified the suspect as a 17-year-old Jeremiah Ryan, who faces a handful of charges including murder, attempted murder, and criminal possession of a weapon.
At least six shell casings were recovered from the corner of Saint Ann's Avenue and East 156th Street in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx, where Yambo was shot in the chest. The two other students shot are expected to survive.
The three students, who police say were unknown to each other, had recently been let out of school nearby when the shooter opened fire around 1:45 p.m.
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Video recovered from the area that captured the deadly barrage of gunfire allegedly shows the gunman in a heated exchange with a group of men across the street at the intersection. The senior officials said hand gestures made between the men are "consistent with gang affiliation."
Additional videos track the suspect eastbound on East 156th Street where police located the man at his residence on East 161th Street, the officials said Saturday. Detectives were working to obtain a search warrant for his home.
Police patrolling outside the apartment of the person of interest witnessed a black bag thrown out of his window. The two senior officials said officers searched the bag and found an unloaded black ghost gun.
Police were investigating whether the shooting suspect, who had no criminal record, was using a so-called “ghost gun” — homemade firearms that can be built with parts bought online and lack serial numbers normally used to trace them.
At a news briefing on Saturday, Deputy Police Chief Timothy McCormack expressed dismay over the circumstances of the case.
“We have two families that are completely destroyed right now — our victim’s family and our shooter’s family,” McCormack said. He described the suspect’s mother as “a hard-working woman” whose child had “zero police contact” before his arrest.
The shooting happened outside of the South Bronx Educational Campus, which is home to two schools, Mott Haven Village Prep and University Heights Secondary School.
The Department of Education said two of the teens went to Mott Haven. The third teen went to University Prep Charter High School, a short distance away.
