NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Police are searching for five people after a 14-year-old bystander was hit by a stray bullet outside a Staten Island high school on Tuesday afternoon.
The boy was leaving Tottenville High School just before 2 p.m. when he was shot in the ankle near Luten Avenue and Deisius Street.
An NYPD school safety agent applied a tourniquet to the teen before EMS arrived and transported him to Staten Island University Hospital North, where he was in stable condition.
The victim was not the intended target of the shooting, police said.
One round also struck an MTA bus that was stopped in front of the school. No one on the bus was injured.
Witnesses said students and staff ran for cover as more than a half-dozen shots rang out.
The shots were fired from one person in the group of five seen on video, according to police, who said it’s unclear which person it was.
Three people in the group fled on Deisius Street to Androvette Avenue, while the other two fled on Deisius Street to Huguenot Avenue. Police haven't said if they believe they may be students at the school.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
In a statement, the city Department of Education said, “Student safety is our top priority, and our students deserve to feel safe in their communities at all times.”
“There is also strong mental-health support at all New York City public schools for students who need it, by way of school-based social workers, guidance counselors, and on site mental health clinics,” the DOE said.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, who represents the area, tweeted that “all types of crime have gotten out of control and it’s not just ‘perception.’”
“Whether it’s people being stabbed, robbed, shoved in front of a train, or shot, our City has turned into the ‘Wild Wild West’ with one out of every 88 New Yorkers becoming a victim of a major felony crime,” the congresswoman wrote.
About an hour after the Staten Island shooting, two boys, ages 13 and 15, were slashed on a Queens street.
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