It was Friday afternoon when the gunfire erupted at the corner of St. Ann’s Avenue and East 156th Street in the Melrose section of the Bronx, New York.
Three teens were hit, including 16-year-old Angellyh, who died from her injuries after she was shot in the back.
Bullets pierced one of her lungs and a pulmonary artery.
Angellyh was a ninth grader at University Prep, which was co-founded by American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten.
“Senseless shootings of children should never happen on the streets of New York or in a school,” Weingarten said. “And if we are not angry about and we are not upset about it then we have lost our humanity.”
Police say the weapon used in the shooting was a so-called ghost gun, an untraceable firearm made from a kit you can buy online.
The suspect, Jeremiah Ryan, is just 17 years old.
Police say the teen had no criminal record when he opened fire on Friday afternoon just after school let out. He was arrested Saturday at home.
He is now facing adult charges, including murder, attempted murder, manslaughter and two counts of criminal weapons possession.
“We need safe corridor programs,” said Weingarten. “We need more safety agents in schools, and we need to get ghost guns and other guns off the streets.”
Today the Biden administration is announcing that the Department of Justice will expand the definitions of “firearm,” frame,” and “receiver” so that more guns are subject to federal laws.
The new rule will require dealers who acquire guns with no serial numbers to give them those numbers so they can be traced.
And those dealers will now have to keep their records for as long as they remain in business.
Here in New York City, activists are also calling for the Department of Education to hire more school safety agents after the de Blasio administration removed thousands of those unarmed cops from schools last year.
“We’re very happy with the service they’re providing, but they’ve also been slowly defunded,” said United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew.
Meantime, funeral services for Angellyh Yambo are set for Tuesday.
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