The family of one of Saturday’s mass shooting victims in The Bronx held back tears while talking to News 12.
Anthonaya Campbell, 17, was shot in her head at Haffen Park in Baychester – an incident that left one dead and three others injured.
News 12 spoke with Campbell’s mother, Jennifer, who said her daughter was hospitalized on life support.
“It’s heartbreaking,” Jennifer said. “You don’t give birth to your children to see them...on the life support unit.”
The family, who had been visiting from Hartford, Connecticut, sat outside most of the day Sunday, watching the crime scene from their home across the street from the park. Jennifer said they used to live in the neighborhood and had returned to visit relatives.
“To come down here and get hurt in the same neighborhood that you actually grew up in...it’s kind of like an ironic disaster,” she said.
According to Jennifer, her daughter had been attending a back-to-school basketball tournament that was advertised on Instagram.
Campbell was watching the game from the bleachers
when gunfire erupted. One bullet struck her in the back of the head.
“She has a heart of gold, and she loves everybody,” Jennifer said. “She doesn’t have an enemy.”
Jennifer described the park as a popular gathering place on weekends, filled with children and families. She said she never expected a mass shooting in the same park where she once played as a child.
She said even if her daughter recovers, the trauma of the shooting will linger for the entire family, especially since they lived just steps away from where it happened.
According to an NYPD update early Sunday evening, four people in custody after the shooting were not charged and Anthonaya Campbell is in critical condition.