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Mom of Bronx teen shot at playground slams NYPD: ‘What are you doing?’

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Published Oct. 13, 2021
Updated Oct. 13, 2021, 8:08 p.m. ET

The mother of a 13-year-old boy who was shot at a Bronx basketball court slammed NYPD’s top cop Wednesday over the latest instance of teen violence.

“What are you doing?” Suleykie Rivera, 33, replied when asked if she had a message for Police Commissioner Dermot Shea. “How are you going about this?

“There are kids between 13 and 18 dying,” Rivera continued. “Where are they getting these guns? Who’s giving it to them? Who’s allowing them to carry them? It’s just crazy. They’re just babies. All these kids is babies.”

Bronx 13-year-old Jose Peredes was shot while playing basketball at Hunts Point Playground on October 7, 2021.
13-year-old Jose Peredes was shot while playing basketball at Hunts Point Playground in the Bronx on October 7, 2021. Tomas E. Gaston for NY Post

Her son, Jose Peredes, was playing basketball at Hunts Point Playground around 5:45 p.m. Thursday when police said another 13-year-old shot him.

Rivera said the suspected gunman, who was charged with attempted murder Tuesday, messaged her son on Snapchat a day before the incident, warning, “I’m going to shoot you.”

She said the teen gunman followed through on the threat, sending her son to Harlem Hospital with a gunshot wound to the knee. Rivera said she does not know the suspect or his family.

Peredes' mother Suleykie Rivera criticized NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea over the rise in teen gun violence.
Peredes’ mother Suleykie Rivera criticized NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea over the rise in teen gun violence. Tomas E. Gaston for NY Post

“He’s in shock right now, so right now he’s not really talking and it’s just sad,” she said of her son, who is on the honor roll and plays football at Hunts Point Middle School. “It’s kids and kids, you know. Kids trying to kill each other.

“It’s sad for my son that he got shot but it’s also sad for the little boy that shot my son because he’s also a kid,” Rivera added.

The suspect nicknamed "Chulo" who allegedly shot Peredes at the park in the Bronx.
The suspect allegedly shot Peredes at the park in the Bronx. NYPD
Rivera said the alleged shooter had messaged her son on Snapchat the day before to tell him that he was going to shoot him.
Suleykie Rivera said the alleged shooter had messaged her son on Snapchat the day before to tell him that he was going to shoot him. Tomas E. Gaston for NY Post

The violence comes amid a disturbing surge in teen shootings in the borough in recent months.

Last week, authorities unsealed an indictment charging 13 reputed gang members as young as 16 with a deadly bloody spree that terrorized the Bronx over the summer.

“I feel like the cops need to be out here more,” Rivera said. “I’m still in shock that my son got shot and is in the hospital. I feel like, you know, there should be more cops out there for these kids, especially kids coming out of school, playing in the playground.”

The NYPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.