Sixteen-month-old Antiq Hennis was shot in Brooklyn’s Brownsville area as his parents pushed him in a stroller. He died just before 9 p.m. at Brookdale University Hospital.
Police think the gunman was aiming for his father Anthony Hennis. Hennis has been arrested over 20 times in New York and Pennsylvania for a variety of crimes including narcotics, weapon possession, assault, and car theft. Police believe the shooting was in retaliation from an earlier dispute. Antiq’s parents were unharmed, but went into hysterics after the shooting:
“I heard three to four shots,” said a witness, Gina Gamboa, 23. “I saw a man with a stroller screaming, ‘My baby got shot! My baby got shot.’
“He was going crazy.”
“The baby’s chest was moving, but his head was tilted to the side,” she said. “There was blood all over the stroller.”
Local residents are frustrated with the violence in the area. On June 12, two 17-year-olds were shot outside of a housing project. Brownsville is largely public housing and has not grown like other parts of Brooklyn. The majority of residents are still below the poverty line.
No arrests have been made and the police did not release more information.