A grand jury charged a 17-year-old for firing a .357 revolver into a crowd on Cypress Avenue and East 140th Street in Mott Haven on Dec. 20.
Raymond Leonardo is charged with attempted murder and weapons possession for the incident. Additonal charges against the teen include attempted assault and reckless endangerment.
The District Attorney’s office alleges that at 9 p.m. that evening, Leonardo saw a group of three or four young men he recognized as the same ones who had threatened his sister. “They were like ‘yo, yo’ and I saw they were coming after me so I picked up my sister and ran home,” he told police in a videotaped statement.
Police say Leonardo fired a half-dozen shots at the young men, and that they started running. He later told the police “I aimed straight but didn’t hit anybody,” although, the NYPD says bullets hit windows of the apartment building at 673 East 140th Street, and bullet fragments were recovered from inside two apartments.
Shortly after shooting, Leonardo was picked up by police at East 137th near Bruckner Boulevard. They also retrieved the revolver.
Leonardo is slated to be back in court on April 24.
The charges contained in the indictment are allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
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