Innocent bystander fatally shot in front of Bronx grocery store

A 61-year-old woman died after she was shot during a dispute between two groups on a Bronx street Monday night, NYPD officials said, calling her an “innocent bystander” who fell victim to a “senseless act of violence.”

Juana Esperanza Soriano De-Perdomo was near a grocery store on East 188th Street, between Morris and Creston avenues in Fordham Heights, around 7 p.m. when two groups of men standing on the south side of the street began arguing, NYPD Deputy Chief Erik Hernandez said at a Monday night news briefing.

At some point during the dispute, the two groups exchanged fire, hitting Soriano De-Perdomo in the back, Hernandez said.

Police officers responding to several 911 calls applied bandages to her injuries and performed CPR until EMS workers arrived, Hernandez said. She was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, he said.

Soriano De-Perdomo was a “complete innocent bystander,” Hernandez said.

“We’re confident this is a tragic incident,” he said. “This person was just walking down the street. She had no involvement in this dispute whatsoever.”

After the shooting, the suspects fled south on Creston Avenue, police said. No one had been arrested in connection with the incident as of Tuesday morning.

Soriano De-Perdomo’s death came less than a week after 12-year-old Kade Lewin was shot and killed as he and his cousins were sitting in a parked car in East Flatbush eating dinner.

NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell on Monday said the department would “spare no resource to bring the individuals responsible for tonight’s violence to justice.”

“We’re here again to address another senseless act of violence on the streets of this city,” Sewell said. “Mindless shootings, with no thought, or fear of the consequences.”

On Tuesday night, locals lit candles and held a vigil at the spot where Soriano De-Perdomo died.

Two of her sons attended the event to mourn their mother, and call on the city to take action.

“She was taken away cold-hearted for no reason,” said her son Eric. “Something needs to change.”

“It has to,” added her other son, Victor. “It has to.”