Woman Shot 'At Very Close Range' While Pushing Baby In Stroller In Manhattan's Upper East Side

A 20-year-old woman was shot in the head from a “very close range” Wednesday night while pushing a baby stroller in Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

The woman had been a pushing a 3-month-old baby, who was not harmed in the incident, east on 95^th street, when the suspect approached her at approximately 8:23 p.m. and fired a single gunshot into her head, according to a statement from police to Oxygen.com.

Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said the woman, who has not been publicly identified by authorities, had been shot “from a very close range.”

“Immediately after the shooting, the suspect fled the scene on foot, heading east bound on 95^th Street,” Sewell said during a press conference Wednesday night.

According to the commissioner, the man had been wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and black sweatpants.

The victim was taken to NYC Health and Hospitals/Metropolitan where she was pronounced dead.

As of Thursday afternoon, there had been no arrests in the case and police have not released a possible motive for the killing.

Police towed a car Thursday morning that had been near the scene of the shooting.

The vehicle’s owner, Julio Cruz, told The New York Times that police had told him they believed there might be a bullet from the shooting inside the vehicle.

“The time they need is the time they need,” Cruz said of police towing the vehicle away. “I hope they find something about this case.”

New York City Council Member Julie Menin described the shooting Wednesday night as a “simply unspeakable” tragedy.

“To think that this incident happened in front of a school with a mother pushing her baby in a stroller is beyond comprehension,” she wrote on Twitter.

While speaking to reporters Wednesday night, Mayor Eric Adams vowed to find justice for the young victim.

“We’re going to find this person who is guilty of this horrific crime, and we’re going to find him and bring him to justice,” he said.  

Before the fatal shooting, Adams said he and Sewell had spent the day with New York Attorney General Letitia James to discuss the city’s efforts to crack down on ghost guns and later spent time with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand to discuss gun trafficking in a broader sense.

“This entire day we have been addressing the problem of the over proliferation of guns in our streets, how readily accessible they are and how there is just, a no fear in using these guns on innocent New Yorkers,” he said.  

Adams called it a “national problem impacting families.”

“It doesn’t matter if you are on the Upper East Side or East New York, Brooklyn,” he said.

He added that the city and police needed help from legislators in Washington D.C., the state and the criminal justice system to be able to institute change.