By Ivan Pereira
Michael Peterson, 20, of Elmont, N.Y. was charged with attempted murder, second-degree assault and criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the shooting of Tyshawn Falconer on Dec. 30, Brown said. Peterson allegedly rang the doorbell to Falconer's single-family house and fired a bullet into the boy's chest after he was told that Tyshawn's older brother was not home, according to Brown.”The shooting last Sunday night was senseless -and could have well resulted in the death of the young victim,” the DA said in a statement.Tyshawn was rushed to Long Island Jewish Hospital Center with a collapsed lung, police said. The boy was recuperating at the hospital after the bullet went through his chest and exited his arm and missed most of his vital organs, according to his father Tony Falconer Sr.”He ran upstairs. I met him halfway upstairs, blood was coming out of his mouth,” Falconer told the New York Post. “He said, 'Daddy, I think I got shot.' I took off his shirt. I saw the hole in the middle of his chest.”Peterson pleaded not guilty and was held without bail, according to the DA's office. His next court date was scheduled for Jan. 22.Tyshawn's brother, Tony Jr., told reporters that he was involved with another boy in a dispute over a girl days before the shooting and he believed the shooting was in retaliation, according to the Post. Tony Jr., who was at a party at the time of the shooting, has had a prior robbery arrest and told police he could not identify the shooter, the Post said.The family's relatives and close friends were appalled to learn that the violence erupted over an alleged grudge.”Why shoot someone over a girl? You don't hurt people over something like that,” said Madge Rigg, the Falconer's neighbor and longtime family friend. “That little boy didn't deserve that to be done to him.”Neighbors said they were glad police were able to find the alleged shooter quickly before more people got hurt. This was the first time anyone in the quiet neighborhood, which is full of single-family brick houses, had experienced a shooting, according to resident Christina Johnson.”We really don't have this type of stuff here. I've never seen any gangs or anything like that,” the 21-year-old student said. “Everyone around here is older and they just keep to themselves.”Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.
