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LIC Teen Hit By Stray Bullet Afraid To Go Home

By Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska | October 2, 2012 1:21pm

LONG ISLAND CITY — The 15-year old girl who was hit by a stray bullet while doing her schoolwork at home is scared to go back to her apartment at the Queensbridge Houses.

Amy Sanchez got a hero’s welcome Monday night during a rally against gun violence in front of her building on 10th Street and 40th Avenue, where she appeared with her mother, Martha.

During the rally, the teen started crying and said she was so frightened by the incident that she and her mom were staying with some relatives, though elected officials said they were trying to find a new place for the family to stay.

Sanchez was hit in the hand by a bullet that tore through her window and ricocheted off the ceiling last Sunday soon after she got up at 5 a.m.

She said she had ducked after the shots were fired and she heard her “mother screaming to go down to the ground.”

Now she said that the bullet may have done permanent damage.

"It might never feel the same," she said.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who attended the rally, said Amy was an example of “dedication, intelligence and hard work.”

“You are sending the message that you are not a victim, you are a survivor,” Quinn said as members of the community chanted: “We are Queensbridge.”

Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, who represents the area, said that “Queensbridge is a good community” and none of the children that are being raised there “should ever have to fear that they too will get shot.”

Last week, 37-year-old Day Bryant, a Harlem resident, was busted for firing the shot that hit Sanchez, police said. According to the NYPD, the suspect was charged with criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment.

But some long time Queensbridge residents said that the situation has been out of control.

Abigail Correa, 51, an administrative assistant who lives in the complex with her two children and 10-year old granddaughter said she hears gunshots as often as three times a month.

“They just shoot, for no reason at all,” she said. “I don’t let my granddaughter outside to play,” said added.