Police are searching for a gunman who opened fire on a Brooklyn street Wednesday afternoon, nearly striking a developmentally delayed woman and leaving her family’s cherished dog wounded by a bullet.
Investigators said the shooter drew a firearm in broad daylight and fired at an unidentified man, but missed — with the stray round instead hitting the dog, which later had the bullet surgically removed.
The nephew of 64-year-old Teresa Pezzolla, who had been walking her pet when the frightening scene unfolded, told The Post that “basically, my aunt Teresa was walking the dog up to 5th Avenue.”
“She walks the dog regularly, and she went around the block, and this is where this kid came out of nowhere, opened fire on another person, and instead of hitting the person, hit the dog,” he said.
The shooting happened around 5:46 p.m. outside 218 31st Street in Greenwood Heights, according to the NYPD.
“So I’m thankful that the bullet didn’t hit my aunt because I think it would have been a lot worse,” Pezzolla’s nephew added.
The intended target was not injured, but the misfired shot struck Honey, the family’s 7-year-old labradoodle.
Pezzolla, who is developmentally delayed, managed to walk back home with the injured animal before her sister called a cab and rushed the dog to an emergency veterinarian.
“My mother called in a cab right away, got the dog to an emergency room — and the doctors there were able to pull a 22 caliber right out of the dog,” Pezzolla’s nephew explained.
When he got home, he immediately asked Pezzolla where the harrowing attack occurred.
“I walked my aunt outside, and I told her, ‘show me exactly where this happened,’ and I had the two police officers follow me from behind and, you know, she was able to point out exactly where this happened,” he said.
Nearby police officers happened upon the scene and asked what’s going on.
“I started looking around 5th Avenue and that’s when two cops rolled up on me and asked me what was going on and I told them. And that’s when the cops jumped into action.”
Authorities were able to obtain surveillance footage from nearby cameras.
“I’ve been living in the neighborhood since I was a child,” the nephew explained.
“This is the first time anything like this has ever happened, a shooting in the area.”
“My aunt is very shaken up.”
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at on X @NYPDTips.
