QUEENS — Two gang members and their accomplice were charged with assault and attempted murder in aid of racketeering Wednesday after they shot a 16-year-old boy in the face because he belonged to a rival gang, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down, officials said.
Prosecutors said that on Oct. 23, Francisco Ramos, 23, drove Jose “Flaco” Gonzalez, 18, Kevin “Stomper” Paniagua, 18, and another man, to Jamaica, where on 90th Avenue near 179th Street, they punched and kicked the victim numerous times, before Paniagua shot him in the face around 2 a.m.
Gonzalez and Paniagua are members of Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, and Ramos is an MS-13 associate, prosecutors said.
According to court documents, Paniagua tried to shoot the victim a second time, but the gun jammed.
The victim, who was targeted because he was allegedly a member of the 18th Street gang, is now paralyzed from the neck down, prosecutors said.
Gonzalez was arrested less then a week after the shooting took place, after the NYPD released his photo.
Paniagua and Ramos were arrested in November, according to court records.
Prosecutors said that during the investigation conducted by the FBI and the NYPD, Gonzalez said the victim and other 18th Street members brandished a knife at him about a month before the shooting.
Bridget Rohde, acting U.S. attorney for the eastern district of New York, called MS-13 “an international gang known for its culture of murder.”
“They sought to spread fear throughout the community by attempting to kill an individual they suspected to be a rival gang member,” Rohde said in a statement. “We will work with our law enforcement partners to make our communities safer by holding accountable those who are responsible for such acts of violence.”
