Life among the felons in possession

Dad recalls terrifying moment daughter, 8, was shot while trick-or-treating

C.J. Sullivan and David Meyer

November 1, 2020 | 4:28pm | Updated 

ander“We were walking to meet my wife at the CVS. I then see a guy with a look on his face and he pulls back his jacket and I see his gun,” recalled the father, who asked that his name be withheld.

“I hear shots. I pushed my youngest out of the way and then grab her but she’s yelling, ‘My leg!'”

The dad — who was hit in the arm — ran into the street with his daughter and hopped into an empty, off-duty taxicab, whose driver took them to a nearby hospital, he said.

“On Halloween a kid trick-or-treating can’t be safe in New York? How crazy is that?” he said.

Enlarge Image

Police at the scene of a shooting at Malcolm X Boulevard and 116th Street in ManhattanRobert Mecea

The 39-year-old Harlemite said his 8-year-old dressed up as a “space girl,” while his younger daughter had gone as Elsa from “Frozen.”

“Halloween didn’t seem to be in the cards this year but the kids begged me to go trick-and-treating,” said the dad.

Police said the father-daughter pair and a third bystander got caught in the middle of a verbal dispute between two men in their 20s, which escalated into gunfire.

SEE ALSO

8-year-old wounded in Harlem shooting was trick-or-treating: sources

Neither gunman has been apprehended. Police said one of the men was last seen wearing a green and black jacket.

The young victim’s father said the girl’s shinbone was shattered — and doctors have yet to determine how much rehabilitation or surgery she’ll need.

The city has grappled with a surge in gun violence over the past several months.

“Before this I was against gun violence like everyone, but now I’m like, ‘This has to stop,'” the dad told The Post.

“I mean, how this guy miss who he’s shooting at and hits us. It’s crazy!” he said.