Man charged with shooting of 5-year-old in East New York

Girl was not intended target

June 9, 2021 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. Eagle file photo by Rob Abruzzese

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An 18-year-old Brooklyn man has been charged with attempted murder and attempted assault in the shooting of a 5-year-old girl in the head as she played with her siblings on a sidewalk in East New York.

Kings County District Attorney Eric Gonzalez identified the defendant as Omar Gelin, 18, of East New York. He was arraigned Tuesday before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Matthew Sciarrino on an indictment in which he was charged with second-degree attempted murder, first- and second-degree attempted assault, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment.

Gelin was released on $100,000 bail and ordered to return to court on July 27, 2021. He faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison if convicted of the top count.

Gonzalez said that according to the investigation, on April 5, 2021, at about 5:45 p.m., Gelin allegedly opened fire at least six times at an unknown man walking on the sidewalk near Dumont and Montauk avenues.

The shots fired missed their intended target, striking a 5-year-old girl as she played with her siblings on the sidewalk moments after leaving her mother’s car.

Shortly after the shots were fired, the victim expressed pain, and her mother observed bleeding from a cut on her head. The girl was treated for a graze wound to the right side of her head at Brookdale Hospital.

Police officers from the 75th Precinct in East New York recovered video surveillance footage that allegedly shows Gelin getting out of a silver Nissan Versa, removing a gun from the trunk of the car and firing multiple rounds at an unknown individual on the sidewalk.

Video surveillance also allegedly captured Gelin placing a firearm back in the trunk of the car, enter the driver’s seat and drive away.

According to the evidence, the Nissan Versa Gelin was allegedly seen driving belongs to his father.

After the incident, the defendant fled to South Carolina and was arrested by police officers assigned to the 75th Precinct on April 28, 2021.

District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This defendant allegedly opened fire multiple times in broad daylight without any concern for the lives he was putting in danger. It is very fortunate that this young victim did not lose her life and that none of her siblings were hurt.”

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Evan Hannay of the District Attorney’s Red Zone Trial Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Karla Watson, bureau chief.