He said he needed to pack heat just to survive in New York City.
A Brooklyn teen who fatally shot a hardworking father while aiming for a rival gang member on a crowded city bus had told cops, “It’s war out here,” and lamented the future he had flushed away.
“Who did I hit? Was it a rival or an innocent man? Why didn’t I just go home?” Kahton Anderson, 14 — who pleaded not guilty at his Brooklyn arraignment Friday — had said, according to court papers.
“Yo am I gonna do life for this?”
Anderson shot and killed Angel Rojas, 41-year-old Brooklyn father of two, on a B15 bus in Clinton Hill on March 20 while firing at a member of the Twan Family gang, police say.
Anderson, a member of the Stack Money Goons gang, told a cop at the 79th Precinct station house that he was just protecting himself with the .357 Magnum, according to court papers made public Friday.
“They came at me on the bus, and I was scared,” Anderson said in the statement.
“It’s my brother’s gun. It’s war out here, so n- - - as gotta carry guns. Ohh man I’m f- -ked man, that n- - -a Jayquan man. Everytime I’m with this n- - -a.”
Speaking outside Brooklyn Supreme Court, Anderson’s attorney, Frederic Pratt, emphasized that the teen had felt his life was in danger during the shooting.
“Kahton’s culpability has to be considered in light of all the surrounding circumstances,” Pratt said.
Anderson’s mother sat expressionless during Friday’s arraignment and declined to comment.
His father did not attend the hearing but has said his son isn’t a killer and was just defending himself.
“Kahton is a child that thinks like a child. He’s a tall child. He thinks like a boy,” said the father, who gave his name only as Mr. Anderson.
A man who later answered the door at the Anderson home declined to speak but did express sympathy for the Rojas family.
“We just want to say that we’re very sorry for the family’s loss,” he said.
Prosecutors said in court Friday that Kahton’s fears of being shot were well founded.
“Two girls on the bus notified members of a rival group that he was on the bus,” Brooklyn Assistant District Attorney Nicole Chavis said.
Anderson faces a slew of charges, including murder, attempted murder, criminal possession of a weapon and attempted assault.
But because of his young age, state sentencing guidelines would restrict Anderson’s punishment to a minimum of 7¹/₂ years to life and a maximum of 15 years to life.
If the teen is convicted or pleads guilty, he will serve his time in a juvenile detention center upstate and would be transferred to an adult prison when he turns 18 or 21.
Anderson is due back in court June 27.
Additional reporting by Erin Calabrese