Gun violence kills 12-year-old Jacob Freytes in Bronx shooting as suspect charged within hours
Gun violence in New York City's Bronx borough claimed the life of a 12-year-old boy Saturday afternoon, when Jacob Freytes was struck by a stray bullet while riding his bicycle outside a neighborhood bodega. William Ferrer, 45,…
HONG KONG— July 27, 2026
Gun violence in New York City's Bronx borough claimed the life of a 12-year-old boy Saturday afternoon, when Jacob Freytes was struck by a stray bullet while riding his bicycle outside a neighborhood bodega. William Ferrer, 45, was arrested the following morning and charged with murder, two counts of attempted murder, manslaughter, six counts of assault and three counts of criminal possession of a weapon, the New York Police Department confirmed.
A child on his bicycle, a confrontation outside a bodega
Freytes had just bought a ball at Wanda Deli Grocery on Elliot Place near the Grand Concourse in the Mount Eden neighborhood when gunfire erupted outside, shortly before 5 p.m. Police say Ferrer opened fire during a chaotic confrontation outside the store. Freytes was hit in the shoulder and taken to NYC Health and Hospitals/Lincoln, where he was pronounced dead.
Surveillance footage shared by United Bodegas of America shows Freytes leaving the bodega on his bicycle moments before the shooting. The video then captures him running back inside and collapsing to the floor as customers looked on.
Two other men were also wounded. A 34-year-old was shot in the foot and a 25-year-old in the buttocks. Both were in stable condition.
City officials and the bodega community respond
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced Ferrer's arrest Sunday and called the killing "an act of senseless gun violence." Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement that children should be able to ride their bikes on a summer afternoon in their neighborhood without fear of being shot. New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams' office wrote that "nothing could be more tragic."
Fernando Mateo, spokesman for United Bodegas of America, spoke at a press conference outside the bodega Sunday morning. He said Freytes was a regular at the store who had sought shelter inside when the shooting broke out. "He runs back into the bodega because he lives in the area, and he's a regular in that bodega seeking refuge," Mateo said. "But no, he didn't make it. Twelve years old."
A repeat record and the limits of hardware
Ferrer has a record of prior arrests stretching back to 1999, according to the New York Post, which cited law enforcement sources. Those arrests include allegations of drug possession, drunken driving, possession of stolen property, menacing and criminal contempt.
The Elliot Place bodega is equipped with one of the emergency panic buttons installed across many New York City stores. Mateo said the violence unfolded within seconds, faster than the button could be deployed.
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