07-09-2006, 01:44 PM
An autistic boy - whose family was about to flee the Bronx to escape its violent streets - was wounded by a stray bullet while playing in his gated yard on the Fourth of July.
Seven-year-old Vincent Henry was being watched closely by his attentive mother when he suddenly wailed in pain and held up his bleeding left hand Tuesday night.
"My son could have lost his life," the boy's frightened father, Vincent Henry Sr., said yesterday as he hugged his bandaged son outside the boy's E. 224th St. house in Williamsbridge.
Even before the shooting, the boy's mom, Angela, had planned to move from the Bronx to Georgia today along with him and his younger sister. But she postponed their move until next week because of Vincent's wound, relatives said.
Vincent, who is severely autistic and cannot speak, is one of at least 25 people wounded or killed by stray bullets this year.
The NYPD does not release statistics on the number of bystanders caught in the crossfire. But the Daily News revealed Sunday that a tally of stray-bullet incidents reported in the media this year suggests they may be on the rise.
Police believe Vincent was hit by a stray bullet fired to celebrate Independence Day. The bullet was still lodged in the boy's hand yesterday.
Vincent's mom told cops she initially believed he had cut his hand on the fence's gate just before 11 p.m. When she couldn't stop the wound from bleeding, she took him to Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center, where doctors told her he had been shot.
With all the fireworks exploding in the neighborhood, the mom said she didn't even hear the gunfire.
Neighbor Amber Davis, 16, said she heard the shots but didn't think much of it.
"You become immune to it because it's every night. Sometimes they shoot at each other and sometimes they are just playing," Amber said. "If they are not here shooting they are out here fighting."
Major crime in the city was down nearly 5% through last Saturday. Although crime in the 47th Precinct, where Vincent was shot, was up 4.38% through the same period, the number of shooting victims was down 8.3%, police data show.
Vincent's dad said he thought his son would be safe outside his house on the holiday because his mom was just feet away.
"She would never leave that kid alone," the dad said. "I don't like this neighborhood."
From nydailynews.com