Chilling surveillance video has surfaced showing the heartbreaking moment a young mother in New York City discovered her seven-month-old baby had been killed by a stray bullet.
The incident took place at a convenience store in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on Wednesday. The footage shows Lianna Charles-Moore entering the store with her infant daughter, Kaori, in a stroller.
Suddenly, several stray bullets fired from outside shattered the store’s windows, leaving Charles-Moore, her partner, Kaori, and their two-year-old son scrambling for cover.
Initially, the family mistook the sounds for fireworks. However, police later confirmed that the shots were fired by two men on mopeds who had unleashed a volley of bullets in the street.
In the aftermath, as the gunfire ceased, the video captured the devastating moment when Charles-Moore realized that Kaori had been hit in the head.
Upon lifting the stroller’s visor, she discovered the fatal wound, causing her to jump in shock and cry out in horror.
The devastated mother then jumped up and down and put her hands to her head as she agonized over the sight of her baby.
Charles-Moore told the New York Post that she was hugging her son in the seconds before seeing her daughter, and recalled: ‘When I looked to my left, my daughter was just there, lying there. She was shot in the head. She was just bleeding. It was just too much.’
Police arrested one man in connection with the event and launched a manhunt for a second, with the stricken mother declaring: ‘I want justice.’
Horrific surveillance footage captured the moment a young New York City mother realized her seven-month-old baby had been shot dead by a stray bullet in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn on Wednesday
Family members said Kaori had only recently learned the word ‘mama’ before the senseless shooting
The screaming mother’s cries then saw others in the bodega to come to her aid, who then also witnessed the infant laying in her stroller.
A young child who was standing behind the family was seen looking around the stroller, only to immediately retreat after seeing Kaori.
Another man then ran over to tend to Charles-Moore, before covering his mouth and moving the stroller when he also saw the baby.
Kaori was rushed to hospital but was tragically pronounced dead just 20 minutes after the shooting.
Authorities said Kaori’s two-year-old brother was also grazed by a bullet and was also transported to hospital.
Soon after the shooting stunned the Brooklyn neighborhood, police released surveillance images of two men riding on a moped who allegedly fired the bullets.
One of the suspects fired recklessly on the street while the other sped away on the vehicle.
Kaori was described by her devastated family as ‘loving, caring, always smiling’
Soon after the shooting stunned the Brooklyn neighborhood, police released surveillance images of two men riding on a moped who allegedly fired the bullets. One of the suspects fired recklessly on the street while the other sped away on the vehicle
A child’s blood-soaked hat lies on the ground near the scene of the tragedy
Police said the two men crashed their moped into an oncoming car two blocks from the scene, and one of the suspects was thrown so hard his shoes flew off his feet, sources said.
He was taken to hospital after sustaining injuries in the crash, leading investigators to identify him as a person of interest in the shooting.
The suspect’s name has not been revealed, and police have launched a city-wide manhunt for the second suspect.
Charles-Moore said she has been left devastated by the senseless death of her daughter, saying Kaori had only recently learned the word ‘mama’ and couldn’t even walk yet.
‘My daughter was innocent. She didn’t deserve that. We were just going outside to go get her a few things, and my son a few things,’ she told the Post.
Charles-Moore said her family were cowering in fear when the bullets rang out, and recalled: ‘When I looked to my left, my daughter was just there, lying there. She was shot in the head. She was just bleeding. It was just too much’
Charles-Moore said her daughter’s death is ‘too much’, and called for cops to track down and prosecute the gunmen: ‘I want justice’
One of the suspects was arrested after being injured in a crash right after the shooting, and cops have launched a manhunt for the second unidentified suspect (pictured)
Bullet casings found near the scene of the shooting outside the bodega
‘My son got impacted with everything that happened, yeah, so it was just too much, because they could have killed my son and my daughter.’
‘She just started saying, ‘Mama,’ she just started, like, almost about to crawl, like it was just a whole bunch of stuff that she was just learning how to do.’
Sources told the outlet that police are unsure over why the moped-riding thugs opened fire, and did not believe that Kaori or her family were the intended targets.
‘I want justice,’ added Charles-Moore.
