The NYPD has announced the identification of a teenager suspected of fatally shooting a 15-year-old boy during a seemingly harmless water gun fight in Queens, which turned violent due to underlying gang tensions, a senior police official revealed on Tuesday.
The suspect, 18-year-old Zahir Davis, who is allegedly associated with the rising BG4 gang, has been pinpointed as the shooter in the shocking and publicly recorded incident involving Jaden Pierre. This tragic event unfolded at Roy Wilkins Park in St. Albans on Thursday night, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.
Authorities believe Davis may have escaped to Jamaica as he remains at large, insiders informed The Post.
Jaden Pierre had been one of the organizers of the water gun event, which gained traction on Instagram and attracted numerous young participants to the park, Chief Kenny noted.
“Many kids gathered there simply to enjoy themselves,” Kenny explained. “However, the presence of several local gang members turned the atmosphere tense.”
“Different gangs ended up converging at the park, which ultimately escalated into the tragic shooting incident,” he added.
Harrowing video shows the chaotic moments violent teens repeatedly pummeled Pierre before the fatal shot rang out and the victim – who took a bullet to the chest – collapsed.
“The kid that does most of the punching is screaming at him, taunting him, teasing him,” Kenny said. “Then you see the shooter step back. He pulls out the pistol.
“It appears that he’s trying to pistol-whip him, and when he hits him, the follow-through, the gun comes down to his chest, and the gun goes off.”
Lab testing will determine whether the teen shooter actually intended for the gun to go off.
Pierre had a simmering, months-long feud with the yet-to-be identified teen who landed most of the blows, Kenny said.
“They have an ongoing beef [dating back] to January, [where] the victim was jumped by that kid and assaulted,” the chief explained. “And then our victim’s [friends] caught him, slipped in and jumped to beat him up.”
A previous clash between girls on both the victim and shooters’ side also fueled the violence, he said.
At least six different gangs showed up at the otherwise innocent water fight, although the victim did not appear to have a gang affiliation and was merely there with his pals, the chief added.
“It’s, you know, unfortunate when you have these types of incidents, they spread like wildfire on social media,” he said.
“Everybody hears about it. And what better place to find your ops than at one of these locations.”
Pierre’s mom previously pleaded for all involved to turn themselves in.
“You are all p—ies,” Shanelle Weston, 33, told the Daily News. “P—ies. You all beat on my son and that wasn’t enough.”
