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36-year-old Anibal Cruz has been arrested in connection to fatally shooting 15-year-old Wesley Vasquez at the Riverbank State Park in the Hamilton Heights neighborhood of NYC on Saturday at 6:42 pm. Cruz has been charged with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon at the NYPD’s 30th Precinct stationhouse on W. 151st St. near Convent Avenue.
Disclaimer: This article contains information about a shooting. Readers' discretion is advised.
According to state police, the teen was shot multiple times at the NYC park. The victim’s family has mentioned how relieved they are now that the alleged killer has been arrested. Shortly after the shooting, Vasquez was taken to a local hospital, where he was later declared dead.
Wesley Vasquez was shot by Anibal Cruz after an altercation at the NYC park
According to a witness, the shooting happened as a result of an altercation that took place at the Riverbank park in NYC between the victim and a group comprising of Anibal and three teenagers. Anibal then pulled out his gun and opened fire. Vasquez was reportedly struck at least twice.
A witness, who refused to be identified, claimed that during the altercation, a woman came to intervene and seemed to be acting as a peace-maker between the two parties. Speaking about the dangerous position the woman put herself in, the witness further stated:
“It was wild, he could have killed her. The shot passed her and got him. It was mad crazy.”
The victim was rushed to Mt. Sinai Morningside Hospital, and was declared dead at around 7:16 pm local time.
Parkgoer Clark Peña, who is also a nearby resident, claimed that he heard around seven gunshots that day near the basketball courts in the area. When he reached the crime site, he found the 15-year-old boy lying facedown at the NYC park’s southern edge:
“When I arrived, I immediately saw this man was bleeding underneath, and he was completely unresponsive.”
Peña additionally stated that while a cop applied a tourniquet to a gunshot wound on Vasquez’s leg, he gave a few chest compressions to try and revive him.
“When he was turned over, we noticed a wound to his upper right chest area. Then we turned him over again to see if there was an exit wound but there was no exit wound,” he said.
According to Wesley’s cousin, he was into writing drill rap, which is known to have aggressive lyrics, and often contain explicit threats to musical rivals.
“He had mad skills. He was a lyrical genius,” the cousin said.
It was further revealed that the teen boy was adopted by his aunt in 2020 after his dad had to be deported to the Dominican Republic due to gambling.
