'This Is Heartbreaking,' Mount Vernon 14-Year-Old Killed In Shooting

MOUNT VERNON, NY —Police are investigating a shooting that left a 14-year-old dead.

At around 10:35 a.m. on Thursday, Mount Vernon police were called to the courtyard of the Levister Towers complex for a report of shots fired, with at least one wounded. A teenage gunshot victim was found at the scene.

Mount Vernon police officers and firefighters immediately began to aid the victim, who was rushed to the Montefiore Mount Vernon Emergency Room. The victim was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital, according to police.

Detectives from the Mount Vernon Police Department are investigating this incident with the assistance of the FBI Safe Streets Task Force and the Westchester County Police Department Real Time Crime Center.

In a statement, Mount Vernon's Acting Superintendent of Schools K. Veronica Smith said that the 9th grader was not in classes today.

"It is with extreme sadness that I announce that a tragedy has occurred in our community," Smith said. "Today, Thursday, March 9, 2023, a Mount Vernon STEAM Academy ninth-grade student who was not in attendance at school today was shot in the vicinity of Levister Towers this morning. Although this incident did not occur on school grounds, out of an abundance of caution, several nearby schools went into lockout."

The superintendent said that the district deployed its crisis team of school counselors, psychologists and social workers to all surrounding schools and high schools and will be available to all students.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the student’s family at this most difficult time," Smith said.

Mount Vernon PBA president Nicholas Mastrogiorgio called the tragedy "senseless" in a statement issued this morning on social media.

"My heart goes out the family of this young child who's life was cut short at the hands of senseless gun violence," Mastrogiorgio wrote in the Facebook post. "Every homicide is an absolute tragedy but a 14 YEAR OLD CHILD, this is heartbreaking!"

The Mount Vernon Police Department is withholding the victim's name due to their age and until the family is notified.

Mount Vernon police are asking anyone with information about today's tragic shooting to contact the MVPD Detective Division at 914-665-2510. All calls will be kept confidential, according to officials. Anonymous tips can also be submitted via the MVPD "Text-A-Tip" by texting "MVPD" and the tip to 847411.