Surveillance video captured the moment a teen desperately tried to escape from a gunman who shot him in the leg on a street in Queens in broad daylight as violent crime in New York City continues to spiral out of control.
The incident took place on Sunday afternoon in front of a 99-cent store in Jamaica, Queens.
The suspect is filmed entering the store and then later catching up with the 16-year-old victim who tries to shield himself behind a brick column.
The two appear to exchange words and at one point the victim shrugs his shoulders as if to ask: 'Why?' but he is chased relentlessly by the suspect who is holding a gun in his right hand.
Eventually the teen victim tries to make a run for it but he is shot at close range in his right leg.
It marked the latest in a string of broad daylight attacks in the Big Apple - where shootings have spiked nearly 30 percent in 2021 compared to last year.
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Footage captures the moment a teen tries to escape a gunman who brazenly shoots him in the leg in broad daylight as violent crime in NYC continues to rise
The suspect is captured shooting the 16-year-old in the right leg after chasing him
Police are asking for help identifying the suspect (pictured) who shot a 16-year-old in Jamaica, Queens
The victim and the suspect both run away from the scene in opposite directions after the shooting.
The victim was taken to a local hospital where he was treated for his non-life threatening gunshot wound.
Police say the victim has not been cooperative and as of Tuesday they are still searching for the suspect, the New York Post reported.
The shooting is the latest in the string of violent crime that have left many New Yorkers worried that the city is sliding back to the dark days of the '70s and '80s when it earned the nickname 'Fear City'.
In the 1970s, the city faced $10billion in debt and funds were cut to the police and other services.
NYPD data shows that shootings have spiked 28.9 percent in 2021 compared to last year as of July 11, its most recent data. There have been 803 shooting incidents in 2021 compared to 623 in 2020.
