A 13-year-old boy was shot in the neck while walking to school in the Bronx in a random attack Tuesday morning, police said.
Hubert Wiggs, 34, allegedly opened fire around 7:20 a.m. on East 223rd Street near Bronxwood Avenue, striking the teen in the neck, cops said.
The teen, who goes to public school in Manhattan, was walking to the subway when shot, according to police. When officers arrived, they found an emotionally disturbed man acting erratically, cops said.
A .38 caliber revolver with one spent round was recovered at the scene.
“He just went up to the kid and shot him in the neck,” an NYPD spokeswoman said.
Police believe it was a random attack but they are investigating whether the shooter and victim had been linked prior to the attack.
The bullet entered and exited the kid’s neck without hitting any veins or arteries, a police officer said.
A passerby called 911 after he saw the teen disoriented and bleeding, according to cops.
When officers arrived, they found an emotionally disturbed man acting erratically, cops said.
The alleged gunman had been in front of his house waving around a gun before he blasted the teen, firing the shot without a word, officers said.
The victim, who wasn’t immediately identified, was taken to Jacobi Hospital in stable condition. A hospital source saw the teen and said he was “crying and looked scared” but “he’ll be OK, under the best care.”
Locals told The Post they’ve called 911 on the alleged shooter in the past and try to stay away from his home with one person describing him as “bad news.”
Wiggs was arrested and slapped with charges including second-degree murder, assault, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a weapon.
Hewas previously charged with criminal possession of a weapon in Harlem in February 2019 after he was allegedly caught with a loaded .380 semi-automatic handgun and a small amount of PCP in another person’s car, the sources said.
Wiggs was accused of getting into the driver’s seat of a car without permission while a woman and child sat inside, sources said.
He posted bond on that charge on June 1 of this year, according to the court clerk.
Additional reporting by Larry Celona and Tamar Lapin