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Boy Battles Nightmares After Seeing 3-Year-Old Brother Get Shot in Brooklyn

By  Aidan Gardiner and Julie  Shapiro | July 10, 2012 6:47pm 

Adam Quinones, 7, said he has had trouble sleeping since his brother Isaiah Rivera, right, was shot in the legs.
Adam Quinones, 7, said he has had trouble sleeping since his brother Isaiah Rivera, right, was shot in the legs.
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DNAinfo/Aidan Gardiner

BROOKLYN — Seven-year-old Adam Quinones is having trouble sleeping.

Ever since he watched his 3-year-old brother get shot in both legs while they played together at a Bedford-Stuyvesant playground on Sunday, Adam doesn't want to close his eyes at night.

"I couldn't sleep at all because I was too worried," Adam told reporters outside his family's Roosevelt Houses apartment, as his younger brother Isaiah Rivera, who is out of the hospital but still recovering, sat in a stroller nearby.

"My nightmare was [about] a baby and a fire, and the fire magically moved and melted the baby," Adam continued. "I had to wake up somebody and tell them that I'm scared."

Police were searching for Jashid Chambers in connection with the Bedford-Stuyvesant shootout that left a 3-year-old boy injured.
Police were searching for Jashid Chambers in connection with the Bedford-Stuyvesant shootout that left a 3-year-old boy injured.
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NYPD

Adam and Isaiah were playing near the elephant-shaped sprinkler at the 383 Pulaski St. playground Sunday afternoon when a gun battle broke out nearby, sending more than a dozen bullets flying.

Adam said he saw one of the shooters pull out his gun, fire it and then join the crowd of terrified park-goers who ran from the melee.  

"I was the first one who saw the bullet headed for my brother," Adam said. "I wasn't scared. Only when I saw that the blood was big, that's when I got scared.

"I told my mom, 'Isaiah's right there. Mommy, get him, get him,'" Adam continued. "Then she ran, got him, picked him up and told my neighbor, 'Check him, check him.'"

Police arrested Stanley Williams, 20, and Antonio McCloud, 22, and charged them with attempted murder, assault, weapons possession and reckless endangerment. Police are still looking for Jashid Chambers, 20, in connection with the shooting and released his photo Monday night.

Tiffiney Monagas, the boys' mother, who is nine months pregnant, said the family plans to move.

"I'm just worried about that last guy out there," Monagas said Tuesday.

Isaiah, who still has visible red marks from the bullet wounds on his legs, played happily outside his home on Tuesday, squealing and smiling as he showed the places he had been hit.

Adam said his brother has received a bunch of toys from police detectives and hospital workers, including toy cars, which are Isaiah's favorite.

"Everybody's bringing him toys," Adam said. "He even lets me play with them…. The best toys are the police toys. He has a police motorcycle with a guy, a police truck and a police car. All three of them light up."

Adam said he and Isaiah sometimes fight, but they've gotten along since the shooting.

"It's nice having him back from the hospital," Adam said. "He's gotten a little smarter. He's gotten a little better."