Teen, 17, killed in broad-daylight Harlem shooting
A teenage boy was fatally shot outside a Harlem McDonald’s on Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.
Taquan Jones, 17, was hit with a bullet to his chest on the corner of Lenox Ave. and W. 132nd St. just after 3:20 p.m., then ran down W. 132nd St. and collapsed onto a driveway, police sources said.
Medics rushed him to Harlem Hospital, but he couldn’t be saved.
Police recovered a single shell casing from the scene.
The teen’s stunned family and neighbors described Taquan as a “good kid” and said they couldn’t fathom why he was targeted.
“Taquan went to Harlem Renaissance High School. He was in the 12th grade and just about to graduate,” said his cousin, Janila White, 19. “We don’t know who would do this. He doesn’t do anything to anybody. He’s not in any gangs. All he does is hang out with his friends and come home to his family.”
White said she and Taquan lived in East Harlem with his grandmother, who raised them.
“He was coming home from school, hanging out with his friends, and he was shot in broad daylight. It’s crazy,” she said.
A family friend, Terri Saulsbury, echoed a sentiment repeated by the teen’s neighbors — that they didn’t know Taquan to get into trouble.
“He was raised by his grandmother. He wasn’t in any gang,” Saulsbury said. “It makes no sense.”
Police have made no arrests in the shooting.
