Neighbor rushes to help boys, 8 and 9, shot in Syracuse: ‘I had to make sure the kids were OK’

Update 3:24: Juveniles on scooters wounded 3 kids in drive-by shooting on Syracuse’s North Side, DA says

Syracuse, N.Y. — Brandon Espe was standing outside of his home, talking with his neighbor Monday night, when he heard a series of pops ring out.

At first, Espe thought the sound was fireworks before he saw a group of about 15 kids running away.

“I heard someone say somebody got hit and I just ran right over,” Espe said.

So he hopped into action, running from his Highland Street home toward the noise while others ran away, he said.

Espe said he got to the corner of Hier Avenue and Knaul Street, where he saw two young boys walking. One was cradling his left arm, Espe said.

He asked the boy holding his arm if he had been hit by a bullet. The two boys, who are brothers, told Espe they were both shot, he said.

The shooting was reported at about 8:40 p.m. at Knaul Street and Hier Avenue, according to Kieran Coffey, a spokesperson for the Syracuse Police Department.

Officers found a 9-year-old boy shot in the arm, an 8-year-old boy shot in the buttocks and a 12-year-old boy with a graze wound to the foot, Coffey said.

All three were in stable condition Monday night, Coffey said.

After encountering the boys on Monday evening, Espe says he sat them down on the front porch of their home and tended to their wounds. Espe said he has first-aid training and knew he had to help.

The 9-year-old boy had a bullet wound that appeared to go through his upper arm, Espe said. The younger brother had a gunshot wound to his butt, but Espe said he wasn’t sure if he was shot once or twice.

Espe asked a family member of the boys to grab towels and ice from inside their home. Espe, 53, used the towel to apply pressure to the wound until emergency medical services arrived.

The boys were shaken up and scared, Espe said. He tried to calm them down and joke with them as he helped slow down their bleeding.

“The boy asked me, ‘Am I going to die?’” Espe said. “I told him he’s going to be alright and then he asked me if he was going to get stitches and I told him, ‘Yea, but that’s cool, chicks dig scars.’ I just said anything to keep them calm.”

When ambulances arrived, they took the 9-year-old boy to the hospital first. Espe said his arm was “bleeding pretty good,” and that EMT’s got a tourniquet on his arm to stop the bleeding before taking him to the hospital.

Another ambulance took the younger boy to the hospital soon after, he said. A 12-year-old boy who suffered a graze wound to the foot was also taken to the hospital, Coffey said.

Espe said he was told by others in the neighborhood that there might have been a fight before the shooting happened. He said didn’t see anyone in a car or walking around with a gun.

Espe had hopped into action so fast that he didn’t have time to process what happened until after the boys were taken to the hospital.

Then it all set in.

“I had to make sure the kids were okay, that’s first and foremost,” Espe said. “Afterwards I was choked up about it.”

Espe said a family member of the boys was angry after the shooting. He said that they planned to get the people back who hurt the boys, but Espe tired to talk to him and tell him revenge is not the answer.

“You’re going to go after them, then they’re going to go after you, and so, where does it end?” Espe said.

Espe said he hasn’t talked with the family since the shooting. He hopes they will recover and be home soon, he said.

No arrests have been made in the shooting, Coffey said. Police planned a news conference at 2:30 p.m. today, but postponed it to respond to another reported shooting.

Police ask anyone with information about the shooting to call them at 315-442-5222.

Staff writer Darian Stevenson covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? You can reach her at [email protected]