A 13-year-old gang member was fatally shot in The Bronx Sunday afternoon, police sources told The Post.
A male gunman got out of the back seat of a black sedan outside 743 E. 187th St. near Prospect Avenue at around 3:15 p.m. and opened fire at two boys on the street, sources said.
One of the boys was struck once in the chest and once in the ankle, while the other bolted. The shooter then got back in the vehicle and fled.
The shot boy, Jaryan Elliot, was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival, the sources said.
He would have turned 14 at the end of the month.
A police source said that Elliot was a member of a gang and was the intended target in the shooting.
Sources said Elliot had six arrests and two sealed busts — including for assault, robbery, burglary and criminal mischief.
Family friend Samantha Jake said that the economic toll of the pandemic has had a negative impact on the neighborhood’s youth.
“This needs to stop,” she said. “I know what it was like with the COVID pandemic. This is literally a pandemic right now — kids killing kids.”
Jake said she saw the victim on the floor of a cafe after he was shot and that she visited the distraught mother after her son’s death.
“He was a beautiful kid,” Jake said. “He was just a kid. He was an awesome kid, a lovable kid.”
Merrick Jones, who lives near the shooting, said Elliot was too young to be involved in violent street gangs.
“This kid should be studying for school or something and not coming outside to be shot,” Jones said. “He should be learning some schoolwork.”
Another local resident, who gave his name only as Angelo, said Elliot’s life was cut short way too soon.
“Obviously he was probably mixed in with the wrong crowd and paid for it too early,” he said.
“Sometimes I see people do a life of crime and come back and be productive members of society. This guy didn’t even get a chance.”
The shooter was described as wearing a burgundy hoodie, light-colored sweatpants and black sneakers.
Police are investigating whether the slaying was connected to the fatal shooting last Wednesday of 19-year-old Tyquill Daugherty, the sources said.
The teen, an aspiring rapper who performed under the name Ty Swish, was fatally shot in the head outside his Bronx apartment, just a few blocks away from Elliot’s slay on Prospect Avenue.
