Logo

The Bronx teen gunned down in broad daylight by a group of masked goons Sunday may have been the victim of a gang shooting, police sources say. 

Jordany Aracena, 17, who has no criminal record or known gang affiliation, was fatally shot on Beekman Avenue near East 141st Street in Mott Haven around 6:15 p.m. — which sources said is a known gang area.

 Aracena was walking along Beekman Avenue when five males in ski masks and dark clothing approached him in the middle of the street — then blasted him once in the arm and once in the chest, cops said. Police recovered two 9 mm shell casings at the scene, sources said. 

Aracena – who lived down the block from the scene – was rushed to Lincoln Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

He has no prior arrests, cops said. 

The slain teenager’s sister, asked by The Post on Monday whether her brother was targeted, nodded her head yes. 

“We don’t have much to say,” added the sibling, Yanilka Aracena. “We’re going to need time.”


  Jordany Aracena, 17, was shot by five males in ski masks on Beekman Avenue near East 141st Street in Mott Haven around 6:15 p.m. Sunday, police said. William C. Lopez/NYPOST Jordany Aracena, 17, was shot by five males in ski masks on Beekman Avenue near East 141st Street in Mott Haven around 6:15 p.m. Sunday, police said. William C. Lopez/NYPOST

  Aracena lived down the block from the scene. William C. Lopez/New York Post Aracena lived down the block from the scene. William C. Lopez/New York Post

Surveillance video captured the victim’s killers sitting on an electrical box at the scene before the shooting — and shows Aracena mortally wounded on the ground as the gunman and his pals flee, the sources said. 

The gunman was dressed in a black hoodie, gray pants and black sneakers, the sources said. 

The motive for the slaying remained unclear Monday, as witnesses were not forthcoming with investigators, cops said.

The shooting comes amid a spike in the number of teen victims of gun violence in the Big Apple — with the troubling figure tripling in recent years.


  The motive for the shooting remained unclear Monday. William C. Lopez/New York Post The motive for the shooting remained unclear Monday. William C. Lopez/New York Post

An NYPD memo obtained by The Post last week revealed that 111 people under the age of 18 had been shooting victims during the first eight months of this year — compared to 36 over the same period in 2017.

That tally outpaces the overall spike in gun violence in the five boroughs, which nearly doubled from 2017 to 2022 — from 992 incidents to 1,206, the memo showed.

Just last week, a 15-year-old student was shot and mortally wounded by a masked gunman in a crowded  Brooklyn park, police said. 

Unique Smith, a student at Brooklyn Laboratory Charter School, was shot Wednesday evening after getting into a brawl at McLaughlin Park earlier in the day, according to police. 

The teen’s grandfather offered a $5,000 reward for the killer’s capture.

Additional reporting by Kevin Sheehan

Comments
anonymous profile image
Powered by RoundtableBuilt on infrastructure designed for real-time media. Learn more at RTB.io.© Roundtable 2026. By using this site you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy