Melissa Alexander said she's in shock that her 9-year-old daughter, Ruanna Brown, and her 11-year-old niece, Empress Alexander Davis, were shot while playing in the park across from her home Monday night.
Alexander said her daughter is at home recovering from a gunshot wound to her right leg. She showed NY1 a photo of her daughter's leg while she was being treated in the hospital.
What You Need To Know
- Two young girls are recovering from gunshot wounds they sustained while playing in a park in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn Monday
- The girls, who are cousins, were playing in the park at Saratoga Ballfields, next to P.S. 178 in Brooklyn's Brownsville neighborhood, just after 9 p.m.
- One of the girls' mother was supervising the girls from a bench when shots rang out and they were struck
"Unfortunately they got shot, like they got, like I can't even believe I'm saying this," she said. "It's really sad."
"She has anxiety," Alexander said of her daughter. "She's going through motions. She's waking up out of her sleep every now and again. Crying, jumping out of her sleep. Just making sure I'm right there. She's having nightmares, I guess."
The two girls were playing in the park at Saratoga Ballfields, next to P.S. 178 in Brooklyn's Brownsville neighborhood, just after 9 p.m. Monday. Alexander was supervising the girls from a bench when shots rang out and the two cousins were struck.
Ruanna shot in the right leg, and her cousin, Empress, was shot in the back.
"I was sitting on the bench, and all of a sudden I hear these loud pops," said Zamayah Henry.
Henry said she was in the park at the time and saw several shooters wearing ski masks, then noticed that the girls had been injured.
"One of them was, she ran, she was like, 'Oh, I'm shot,' and blood was running down her leg," Henry said. "And the other girl was laying like, right there on the floor, and she had blood on her back, and I helped the girl walk down the block so I could get her to her mother."
NYPD Deputy Chief John Mastronardi said police believe the children were "unintended targets."
"Based on the act of violence that we're seeing here. It appears to be based off of video. It's two shooters shooting in the same direction at one individual, targeted individual," Mastronardi said.
Alexander said she took her daughter and niece to the hospital in her car. She is now worried and hoping her daughter makes a full recovery.
"I'm hoping that she can walk normally," Alexander said.
Alexander says her niece is still being treated at the hospital for her gunshot wound. Police said they're still trying to determine a motive, but have not ruled out gang violence. Police have not announced any potential suspects or arrests.
The NYPD has asked anyone with information about the incident to contact their crime stoppers hotline at 800-577-TIPS.