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Young bodyguard

Boy, 13, shields girl during Brooklyn stoop shooting

BY PAUL H.B. SHIN, VERONIKA BELENKAYA
and ALISON GENDAR
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Destiny Liddle
Ellis Mercado (r.)
A 13-year-old boy threw his body in front of a little girl early yesterday as a gunman sprayed a Brooklyn stoop with bullets, wounding the two children, police said.

A stray bullet exploded through Ellis Mercado's back as he bravely tried to shield 10-year-old Destiny Liddie, who was shot in both arms and grazed on her chest, police said.

The children, who were in stable condition at Brookdale University Hospital, had been getting their hair braided at 2 a.m. outside 206 Newport St. in Brownsville, relatives said.

"I was proud of him that he actually thought about other people before he thought of himself," said Ellis' father, Luis Mercado, 41.

"He actually threw himself on top of the little girl," said Mercado, explaining he allowed his son to sit out on the stoop despite the hour because it was the weekend and he was with family friends. "He was the one who took the little girl into the building after the shooting."

Ellis and Destiny were wounded as shootings have surged in the city, rising nearly 9% so far this year compared with the same period last year, even as the murder rate has fallen 9.6%

Moments before yesterday's shooting, two teen boys were seen walking through a nearby parking lot when one fired four rounds. Witnesses said the gunman seemed to be aiming at a man near the children. Cops recovered a security video, but no arrests were made.

"I heard the shooting, so I came down and I see a child sitting in the hallway with her arms wrapped around her and the boy with two holes in his back," said neighbor Janie London, 66. "The boy was walking around like he was glad to be shot. He was saying, 'I got shot two times, and I didn't feel nothing.'"

Destiny, who had been visiting her aunt, was sobbing.

"You hear about this, but you never imagine it's going to hit home," said her stepfather, Richard McClain.

Despite the citywide increase in shootings, gunfire in the 73rd Precinct, where the kids were wounded, has fallen 6%. The precinct leads the city in the number of gun arrests and weapons taken off the streets.

But Newport St. residents said gunmen have opened fire three times during the past week.

"It could have been worse," London said. "Those children could have been killed."

Originally published on August 21, 2005

Link : http://www.nydailynews.com/front/sto...p-289718c.html

I love this kind of story !

[A_erised]

Two a.m.???????????????

Perhaps I am old fashioned, but all of those children should have been inside tucked into their own beds.

[linskyjack]

Thats life in the inner-city---very hot night---people sittingon the stoop-----------bang.

[poochee]

That is quite a story. Glad the kids are OK!

[teengeekgrrl]

Glad they made it But that's awful they were shot! What did this idiot have against the children? If you're gonna shoot someone, don't get kids involved! Or even better, put down the gun and find something useful to do!

[Alan18]

[Mulderator]

Originally Posted by A_erised

Two a.m.???????????????

Perhaps I am old fashioned, but all of those children should have been inside tucked into their own beds.

Maybe the 10 year old, but my kids at age 13 often stay up all night or most of the night when they have sleep over parties. They are not SUPPOSSED to be outside. I say that, because I found out my one daugther and her friend "TPd" (toilet papered) a friend's house at about 1:00 a.m. The dog woke my wife up who caught the little buggers sneaking back into the house!

[teengeekgrrl]

LOL I stayed up yuntil five AM once! But we watched chick flicks the whole night. No TPing anything.

I always wondered why they call them sleepovers...

[SIR****TMG]

Now your telling on yourself...............stayed up all nite and tp'ed the whole town...you never did get to sleep till you got home....ok we all see now..........

[teengeekgrrl]

aww ya caught me

[SIR****TMG]

Yep.............

[slickoe]

This story highlights something very important; you are MUCH more likely to be killed by a fellow American than by any foreign "terrorist". I'd love to see a few dozen billion invested so murder in the first degree doesn't get pled down to man one (7 years in on the average.), I'd love to see crimes of violence have no parole, I'd love to feel safe on city streets because our criminal justice system had as much teeth as our upside down foreign policy.

[xico]

Originally Posted by slickoe

This story highlights something very important; you are MUCH more likely to be killed by a fellow American than by any foreign "terrorist". I'd love to see a few dozen billion invested so murder in the first degree doesn't get pled down to man one (7 years in on the average.), I'd love to see crimes of violence have no parole, I'd love to feel safe on city streets because our criminal justice system had as much teeth as our upside down foreign policy.

I don't know the statistics, but I'll bet you're more likely to be killed by a teenage driver or an elderly than by any terrorist!

[poochee]

Originally Posted by xico

I don't know the statistics, but I'll bet you're more likely to be killed by a teenage driver or an elderly than by any terrorist!

If we had an equal number of terrorists, teen age, and elderly drivers, I'd say look out for the terrorists!

I have a weird sense of humor.

[xico]

Originally Posted by poochee

If we had an equal number of terrorists, teen age, and elderly drivers, I'd say look out for the terrorists!

I have a weird sense of humor.

There was an elderly woman in Miami a couple of years ago that killed four people at a bus stop, drove off and killed another 6 or 7 at the next bus stop! The reporter asked her what she planned on doing now. She said, "Get more insurance!"