Newsman: Jaden Pierre, A 15-year-old boy was beaten and shot to death amid a gang feud that erupted during a wholesome water gun fight in a Queens park, according to the police.
Pierre had organized the fun day on Instagram before it turned deadly during a raucous scene in Roy Wilkins Park in St. Albans on April 16, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.
“Unfortunately, you had a bunch of kids one day to have fun and play, but then you also had numerous gang members from the area, multiple different gangs showed up, and then they crossed paths,” the chief said during a press briefing Tuesday.
The shooter, identified as 18-year-old Zahire Davis, is an alleged member of the BG4 gang, which operates out of southeast Queens, and had an ongoing feud with the victim, according to the NYPD.
Davis appeared to pistol-whip the victim in the head before the gun was lowered and one shot was fired into the boy’s chest, Chief of Detectives Kenny said. Pierre was rushed to a hospital but could not be saved.
Before the shooting, Pierre was cornered into a fence near the park bathroom and beaten by a suspect who jumped him in January, police said. That suspect has not been identified yet.
The boy was pummeled and taunted before he was killed, but it was unclear what the attacker said to the teen, police said.
“So basically, the reason for the event was non-criminal. It was like a wholesome water gun fight, but others took it as an opportunity,”Joseph Kenny said.
Kenny said the NYPD is aware of close to 500 different crews with about 13,000 members.
“It’s like over just petty stuff, like geography,” the chief said.
Davis has not been apprehended yet.
