Man charged with murder after stray bullet kills 12-year-old in Bronx bodega

On a Saturday afternoon in the Mount Eden section of the Bronx, a twelve-year-old boy named Jacob Freytes rode his bicycle past Wanda Deli Grocery on Elliot Place, near the Grand Concourse. He had just bought a ball inside the store. Within moments, gunfire erupted outside. Surveillance video would later show what happened next: Freytes running back into the bodega, clutching his chest, before collapsing to the floor as customers watched in horror. He had been struck in the shoulder by a stray bullet. He was rushed to NYC Health and Hospitals/Lincoln, where he was pronounced dead shortly before 5 p.m.

William Ferrer, forty-five years old, was arrested the following Sunday morning and charged with murder, two counts of attempted murder, manslaughter, six counts of assault, and three counts of criminal possession of a weapon. Police say Ferrer opened fire during a chaotic street confrontation, and Freytes—a child on his bicycle in his own neighborhood—became the casualty. Two other men were also struck in the gunfire: a thirty-four-year-old shot in the foot and a twenty-five-year-old struck in the buttocks. Both were in stable condition.

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced the arrest on Sunday, describing Freytes' death as "an act of senseless gun violence." In a statement posted to social media, Tisch wrote that Jacob was an innocent bystander on his bike when he was taken from his family, and that no arrest could ease the pain of such an unimaginable loss. The department, she said, would continue to pursue justice for the boy.

Ferrer's criminal history stretches back to 1999, according to law enforcement sources. His record includes arrests for drug possession, drunken driving, possession of stolen property, menacing, and criminal contempt. The specifics of what triggered the confrontation outside the bodega on Saturday afternoon remain part of the ongoing investigation.

Fernando Mateo, spokesman for the United Bodegas of America, stood outside the store days later and spoke about the weight of these moments. "We're just tired of having these press conferences speaking about gun violence," he said. He noted that Freytes had entered the bodega to buy a ball, then walked outside moments before the shooting began. When gunfire erupted, the boy ran back inside seeking refuge—a natural instinct, a child returning to a familiar place. But the violence unfolded in seconds. The store had one of the emergency panic buttons installed in many New York City bodegas, but it made no difference.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani released a statement mourning Freytes' death. "Our children should be able to ride their bikes on a nice summer day in their neighborhood without fear of being shot," he wrote. "We cannot accept this violence as normal." The Public Advocate's office echoed the sentiment, calling the death "nothing could be more tragic" and emphasizing that children's safety is a collective responsibility. Both officials called for urgent implementation of strategies proven to reduce gun violence.

The surveillance video released by United Bodegas of America became the documentary record of those final moments—a child buying a ball, stepping outside into an ordinary summer afternoon, then running back inside as his neighborhood erupted in gunfire. It is the kind of footage that haunts a city, the kind that makes the abstract concrete: this is what gun violence looks like when it finds a child.