Shootings of children skyrocket in New York City

Wounded teen released from hospital

A high school senior who was shot in the head by a stray bullet two weeks ago has been released from a hospital. She is among the growing victims of skyrocketing shootings affecting children and teenagers in New York City.

NEW YORK - NYPD officers stood shoulder-to-shoulder clapping and cheering for a high school senior who was released from the hospital Friday morning.

Kyla Simone Sobers-Batties was shot in the head by a stray bullet two weeks ago as she was sitting and talking with friends in a park in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. She was rushed to the hospital where she was put in a medically induced coma for days. Her family said her survival is a miracle.

She isn't home just yet, though. Instead, She was taken to a rehabilitation center to continue her recovery.

Kyla is among a growing number of youth affected by gun violence in New York City, where shootings have spiked in some communities although overall crime is down.

The number of children killed in shootings so far this year has more than doubled compared to the same time last year: through Oct. 10, 19 kids age 17 and younger have died in gunfire — up from seven over the same period in 2020. In the same period in 2019, three children were fatally shot.

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Nonfatal shootings of children are at 101 through Oct. 10, up from 48 in the same period in 2019.

Police leaders have said the NYPD is working to combat the flow of illegal guns into the city. Cops made 393 arrests for illegal firearms in September, bringing the year-to-date total to 3,425, the NYPD said. That is an almost 21% increase compared to the 2,832 gun arrests made through September 2020.