Girl Killed by Stray Bullet on Bus Was Followed by Group of Teens (PHOTO)
Police are investigating possible gang involvement in the death of a 16-year-old girl who was killed Saturday while riding a Queens bus home from a Sweet 16 birthday party.
Daja Robinson, 14, was shot and killed on Saturday night at around 9 p.m. while traveling home from a birthday party in Rockaway with two other friends. Robinson was aboard a Q6 bus in Queens, NY when a stray bullet came through one of the windows and hit Robinson in the head. Police do no believe that Robinson was a target.
"The shots were fired towards the bus while it was moving," police told NBC. "Investigators recovered nine bullet shell casings."
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Robinson was a student in her freshman year at Andrew Jackson high school. She was attending a party at the Onyx Lounge, near where the shooting took place.
"She was sweet," Jamaica resident Jamaal Jefferson, 17, told the New York Daily News on Sunday. "She was young ... she was going to school, living her life. It's just a tragedy."
Police are still investigating the case. The suspected gunman is still at large and few details have been released. Onlookers mentioned that a group of teens appeared to be following Robinson and her three friends when they left the party, the NY Daily News reported. Follow-ups to those leads however, have not yet been found. Other young residents in the area were left shaken.
"I'm shocked and kind of scared," said Tanasha Palmer, 19, a York College biology major. "I take the bus to school every day."
"It's outrageous," added Christopher McIlwain, 47. "First of all, it was a young girl. Secondly, it was useless. A life wasted for what?"
