New York, US: A 69-year-old grandmother using a walker was fatally shot in the face by a stray bullet during a violent daylight shootout that erupted on the streets of East Harlem Wednesday afternoon, leaving a tight-knit community devastated and demanding answers about public safety.
Tragic Final Moments
Robin Wright was returning home from a lunch outing with her close friend Juanita Arnold when chaos erupted around 12:25 p.m. near the intersection of East 110th Street and Madison Avenue. The two women had just picked up Chinese takeout when gunfire suddenly exploded from a block away on Park Avenue.
“We were just coming from the Chinese restaurant, innocently. We didn’t expect for any of this to happen,” Arnold recounted through tears. “The gunshots went off six or seven times, and the next thing I turned around and my friend was on the ground.”
Wright, who had recently transitioned to using a walker after being hospitalized for foot pain, was struck once in the face by a bullet that traveled nearly an entire city block. Her friend Arnold described the horrifying moment: “I asked her, ‘Are you all right? Did you get shot?’ and she said, ‘Yes.’ That was the last thing she said to me. I watched my friend die.”
Chain of Violence
According to police investigators, the deadly shooting stemmed from an attempted robbery gone wrong. Two men had tried to mug another individual near Park Avenue when the robbery victim pulled out a gun and opened fire at his attackers. The muggers then returned fire as they fled toward 110th Street, creating a crossfire that claimed Wright’s life…