A 64-year-old retiree was struck by a stray bullet while out to pick up a Thanksgiving turkey during a daylight shooting in Manhattan. The bullet landed perilously close to her spine.
At around 4:18 p.m. on Monday, Francisca Nuñez was walking near West 204th Street and Broadway when a group of teenagers fired their weapons, resulting in her being hit in the buttocks. As of now, the assailants remain at large, according to police.
Currently at Harlem Hospital, Nuñez plans to return to the Dominican Republic next month, but doctors have been unable to extract the bullet, as noted by her longtime friend, Jose Luis.
“I’m angry,” said Rui, a friend of Nuñez for 30 years. “They could have killed my friend. She could have been shot in the head or the chest.”
“This whole situation is unfortunate,” he continued. “Any day of the week is bad for this, but it’s especially sad since it happened right before Thanksgiving. While everyone else was celebrating, she ended up in the hospital.”
Police reported at least six suspects involved in the shooting, but it’s not clear exactly why Nuñez was hit or who the intended target was.
Nuñez recounted to WABC Eyewitness News that she heard an argument and a knife being drawn just before shots were fired, which subsequently knocked her to the ground.
She described feeling “heat” from the bullet before noticing blood flowing out.
Despite a launch of a manhunt for the suspects, no arrests have been made yet.
Nuñez had retired to the Dominican Republic but returned to New York for a visit about seven months ago and was due to head back next month, as Ruiz mentioned.
He believed she was in the area to collect Thanksgiving food donations from neighbors. “The streets around here are so bad,” he said. “This kind of violence happens frequently.”
“Who are you looking for?” Lewis asked, referring to the shooters. “How did they get the gun? Why do they have a knife? There are so many questions.”
