Bronx deadly shooting: Family, friends mourn 28-year-old innocent bystander shot, killed in Kingsbridge Heights
Family and friends are mourning the death of a 28-year-old man , who was shot and killed when several gunmen opened fire on a crowd in the Kingsbridge Heights section of the Bronx on Wednesday.
Daoud Marji, 28, was born in Jordan but raised in Yonkers, New York. His father brought him to the United States for a good education, not to lose his life simply walking down the street.
"I miss everything. He's my blood bro," said the victim's father Saed Marji. "I'm a strong man but still I'm shocked, and I have to take care of my wife, my family, she's already gone."
Daoud Marji was visiting a friend in the Bronx, his father says.
Police sources say the 28-year-old was walking to his car near University Avenue and West Kingsbridge Road just before 5 p.m. on Wednesday, when someone in a group opened fire in his direction, striking him in the head.
"For me, I always saw him as a bigger brother," said the victim's second cousin Paul Marjieh.
Marjieh is currently in the police academy preparing to rid the streets of brazen criminals, and the very thing that ended up taking his cousin's life.
"Of all people, the fact that it was him -- a stray bullet -- it's kind of crazy to think about but it's really sad to hear," he said.
Police say Daoud Marji was not the only innocent bystander hit when the gunfire erupted. A 33-year-old woman had just finished working at a nearby construction site and was on her way to the subway when she realized she also had been grazed by a bullet in the hip.
The double shooting in the Bronx follows the deadly shooting of a beloved community matriarch , who was killed in the crossfire in Harlem Tuesday night.
The shock and anger for Daoud Marji's family is still setting in.
"Not a bad bone in his body. It's a great loss to our community," said family friend Ray Khoury. "The kindest individual we've ever known. I've known him for probably the last 25 years. He came when he was very young from the Middle East with his family, hardworking family."
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