A Howard Beach teenager shot a neighbor’s dog on Monday while apparently playing with guns, police said.
According to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny, the incident unfolded at around 9 a.m. on April 22, when officers from the 106th Precinct rushed to a home on the 155-00 block of Huron Street.
The homeowner told responding officers that her beloved Pomeranian, named Arya, had been shot. She had taken her companion to a veterinarian after she had noticed that it was bleeding and in pain.
“She brought the dog to the vet and the vet told her that the dog been shot. The round pierced the dog’s leg near its groin and nicked its colon,” Chief Kenny said.
Police say that Arya is expected to survive the shooting and is recovering.
Upon further investigation, cops discovered that the home also had a bullet hole in the window. Chief Kenny said police also found two bullet holes in a neighboring home’s façade and interviewed a woman there who said her son had fled the area.
Law enforcement sources said the woman was apparently aware of the shooting that had taken place in her home.
“She panicked. [We] found two firearms and put them in her freezer. We secured the location for a search warrant and recovered two guns: a high point 380 and a Smith and Wesson revolver. We were able to arrange the surrender of the perpetrator in this case,” Chief Kenny said.
Late on Tuesday afternoon, police apprehended 18-year-old Joshua Marte, the suspected shooter and neighbor. Investigators believe the young man had been fiddling with the guns when they were mistakenly discharged.
“I didn’t mean to hurt anybody,” Marte said in statements made to police.
He is now charged with criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment.
