Shayma Roman, the 17 year old basketball player victim of two stray bullets yesterday on a sidewalk in Brooklyn she was in front of her sister, in whose arms she died.
“She saw what happened… she was there,” she told the New York Post today Shakem Roman, older brother of the girls. “I don’t know how my (other) sister is going to take it. She is at grandma’s house or at her friends’ house. She can’t come home… they shared a room, she can’t.” He added that his sisters were so close that some considered them twins.
A neighbor who witnessed the shooting but asked not to be identified said that Tayma Roman hugged her sister Shayma and cried while waiting for an ambulance to arrive to the Crown Heights neighborhood.
“She (Shayma) was leaving the building and barely made it to the stairs… That is her blood”, the neighbor added, pointing to a dark stain on the sidewalk.
The victim, who lived a mile away on St. Mark’s Avenue, had just left the apartment building for a visit 1225 Eastern Parkway near Rochester Avenue yesterday around 6: 15 pm when she was hit twice by stray bullets fired by a couple of men, one in the arm and one in the chest, police sources said.
When the Police responding to the scene, in an area of two warring gangs, found Roman face down on the pavement in a pool of blood next to empty beer bottles and a pair of dice, sources said. She was pronounced dead at Brookdale Hospital less than 20 minutes later.
Another resident said that Roman was well liked in the neighborhood. “A star basketball player, a star student. She was really loved by everyone.”
Police have identified two suspects from surveillance footage , but no arrests have been made. Anyone with information should call 1-577-577-TIPS (2022) and in Spanish 1-888-57-CLUE (74782). Also through crimestoppers.nypdonline.org or by text message to 274637 (CRIMES), followed by TIP577. All communications are strictly confidential.
The number of gunmen and their underage victims has tripled in recent years in NYC, confirmed a recent memo from the NYPD, the largest police force in the country. In NYC, gun violence has been a major challenge for former police officer Eric Adams, who since taking office in January has encountered obstacles within his own Democratic party and Black Lives Matter (BLM) leaders to address the crisis. .