Teen fatally shot in Bronx park, NYPD looking for suspect

Police were searching Wednesday for a suspect they say fatally shot a 17-year-old boy in a Bronx park Tuesday night.

NYPD officials said Bronx resident Darrell Harris was in Starlight Park on Sheridan Boulevard and East 173rd Street when he was struck in his head and right arm around 8:15 p.m.

First responders took him to Jacobi Hospital, where he died of his injuries, according to police.

Officials said the shooting was sparked by a dispute. They were looking for a man in a dark hoodie, black sweatpants and a black face mask who fled north on Sheridan Boulevard.

Harris is the 16th teen to die in a New York City shooting so far this year, according to NYPD data compiled by Gothamist.

The shooting happened just two days after the Bronx district attorney and Mayor Eric Adams condemned gun violence involving teens and called for a reexamination of the way courts handle alleged offenders who are minors. Authorities cited a doubling of teen shootings between 2018 and 2024, but criminal justice advocates said so far state lawmakers have not shown interest in rolling back a 2017 law that raised the age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 18.

“The Bronx is bleeding, and I’m doing everything in my power to make it stop,” Bronx DA Darcel Clark said Monday at a press conference announcing the arrests of 19 people — including several teens — accused of criminal involvement in a dozen shootings since 2021. “This is a lost generation. … This must end.”

Police data shows shootings were down slightly in the NYPD’s 43th Precinct, where Harris was killed, as of June 22, compared to the same period last year. The precinct — which includes the Southeast Bronx neighborhoods along Westchester Avenue, Castle Hill Avenue and White Plains Road — recorded four homicides through that date both in 2024 and 2025.

Police also announced Wednesday that 18-year-old Rize Ashmeade of the Bronx died on June 16 from injuries he sustained in a June 7 shooting on West Kingsbridge Road and Davidson Avenue. The NYPD arrested a 17-year-old boy in connection with Ashmeade’s death, charging him with murder, assault and criminal weapons possession.

In the 52nd Precinct, where Ashmeade was shot, shootings and homicides have declined 30% and 67%, respectively, from the same period last year. The precinct covers neighborhoods including Kingsbridge, Norwood and University Heights. NYPD data shows there were two homicides in the precinct this year before officials announced Ashmeade’s killing.

Earlier Tuesday, police responded to another fatal shooting in the Bronx, where they said a 22-year-old man was shot and killed on Cedar Avenue near West Tremont Avenue in Morris Heights around 4:30 a.m. His name was not immediately released, and police had not announced any arrests in the case by Wednesday morning.

This is a developing story based on preliminary information by police and has been updated.