Cops are quizzing two suspects in connection with the shooting of a 15-year-old Bronx girl caught in the middle of a gun battle near her high school, authorities said.
The two men, who have not been identified, are not suspected of being the gunman, police said.
The men have not yet been charged with a crime.
Vada Vasquez was chatting with a friend Monday at 3:45 p.m. on the corner of Home Street and Prospect Avenue, just steps from their high school, Bronx Latin in Morrisania, when the gunfire erupted.
Vasquez was struck by the stray bullet.
She remains in critical condition in a medically-induced coma at Lincoln Hospital after undergoing surgery last night.
A 19-year-old man, identified as Tyrone Creighton, who cops said was the intended target, was hit in the leg and abdomen. He is also listed in critical condition.
The shooting that injured Vasquez came after Creighton’s inmate brother was involved in an assault on a fellow jailbird at Rikers Island, according to police.
The inmate then sent word to his pals on the outside to seek revenge against Creighton, police said.
Mayor Bloomberg condemned the shooting today.
“Carrying an illegal gun is one of the dumbest and most dangerous things you can do and it’s why an innocent young girl in the Bronx is now hanging on for dear life,” Bloomberg said.
“It really is very tragic. It’s a terrible tragedy. I would just like to ask all New Yorkers to send their thoughts and prayers to Lincoln Hospital and pray for Vada Vasquez. Hopefully she’ll find some ways to pull through this.
“A young life with all the promise in the world and an illegal gun once again is perhaps, let’s hope not, (inflciting) a terrible injury.”