A 61-year-old woman was killed Monday night after getting caught in the crossfire of what cops think may be a dispute between men over three-card monte on a Bronx street, police and sources said.
The woman, identified by police as Juana Esperanza Soriano De-Perdomo, was walking alone by a deli on East 188th Street between Creston Avenue and Grand Concourse when she was struck in the back by a stray bullet just after 7 p.m., according to cops and sources.
“The family is devastated,” De-Perdomo’s sister-in-law told The Post Tuesday.
She said the victim’s husband died two years ago.
“She’d visit her son,” said Mustafa, 70, the building’s superintendent.
“It’s a sad story,” he said of the shooting. “This city and the police force have to pay more attention and take the [gun] violence off the streets, especially in this area, not only Manhattan because good people live there.
Three men were arguing with another man on the south side of the street when at least one of the suspects opened fire, police and sources said. The bullet missed the gunman’s intended target and hit Soriano De-Perdomo.
Law enforcement sources said Tuesday that the beef may have been over a game of three-card monte.
“It’s another act of senseless violence in the streets of the city,” NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewall said during a Monday night press conference from the scene. “Mindless shootings without thought or fear of consequences.”
Witness Chris Simone, 28, said the shooting sent others in the area scrambling for safety.
“I turn my head and I see people running outside the store, and I see a lady just collapse,” Simone said. “People were screaming and running away.”
Deputy Chief Erik Hernandez said at least two men pulled out guns and at least one of them pulled the trigger.
“At some point multiple guns are pointed at each other, with one gun we verified as firing shots down towards the Grand Concourse striking our victim,” Hernandez told reporters.
Responding officers rendered first aid to the woman while they waited for EMS to arrive, Hernandez said.
Video obtained by The Post shows paramedics rushing Soriano De-Perdomo on a gurney down the sidewalk and into an ambulance.
The victim was transported to St. Barnabas hospital where she was pronounced dead, police said.
The suspects fled on foot southbound on Creston Avenue, according to police sources.
No other injuries were reported.
Investigators were canvassing the area for witnesses, surveillance footage and physical evidence, police said. Four shell casings were recovered at the scene, according to sources.
A description of the suspects was not immediately available and no arrests have been made.
Additional reporting by Tina Moore and Georgett Roberts
