A 19-year-old New York City school worker has died after he was shot in the head Tuesday afternoon as he was leaving the Brooklyn elementary school he was working at.
The worker, identified as Ethan Holder of Brooklyn, was about 400 feet from the school when the shooter opened fire from across the street just before 3 p.m. Tuesday, New York police said.
Holder stumbled into a corner deli and collapsed before he was taken to Brookdale Hospital in critical condition, NBC New York reported. He died the next day, the NYPD said.
A suspect identified as Javier Oates, 19, of Brooklyn, was arrested and charged with murder, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal use of a firearm.
Police had said ahead of Oates' arrest that they believed the incident was targeted, but said the motive was not immediately clear.
Holder's union told NBC New York that he worked as a school paraprofessional for the Education Department. It said he was working at P.S. 203 on Tuesday but can be assigned to other schools, as well.
“I am absolutely heartbroken and outraged that one of our dedicated employees was senselessly a victim of random gun violence," Schools Chancellor David C. Banks said in a statement Tuesday.
"Our educators, our students, and our families deserve better than living with the threat of gun violence," he said, adding that he was in touch with the principal of P.S. 203 and would "ensure that the students have the counseling services they need as they grapple with this tragedy." He said he would work with police to increase security around the school.
"This is a tragedy," Mayor Eric Adams tweeted Tuesday.
"The rivers of violence bringing guns into our communities didn’t begin in our city but they will end here. We will keep our city safe," he said, urging residents with any information to contact the NYPD.
