A 16-month-old boy was fatally shot in the head as his mom and dad watched in horror Sunday night, when a gunman opened fire as they pushed him along a Brooklyn sidewalk in his stroller.
Little Antiq Hennis died at Brookdale Hospital at 8:50 p.m. about an hour after he was struck in the left side of his skull by a bullet at Bristol Street and Livonia Avenue in Brownsville
“I heard three to four shots shots. I saw a man with a stroller screaming, `My baby got shot! My baby got shot,’ ’’ said witness Gina Gamboa, 23.
“He was going crazy.’’
Police were looking into the possibility the father, Anthony, was the target, a source told The Post.
He has a record of more than 20 arrests in New York and Pennsylvania, including busts for narcotics, weapons possession, assault, and car theft and driving violations, according to the source.
Gamboa said that after the smoke cleared, she could see the baby lying in his stroller.
“The baby’s chest was moving, but his head was tilted to the side,’’ she said.
“There was blood all over the stroller.’’
The victim’s distraught uncle, Chris Dovsen, said the boy had been “vibrant and full of energy.
“He was just starting to learn how to walk. He was just getting the hang of it.
“And now this happened.’’
He sadly recalled, “just yesterday he was playing with a basketball.’’
The dad, he said, has been a “changed man’’ since becoming a father.
Bishop Willie Billops of the nearby Church of Faith, Hope and Charity, who knows the dad, said he drove his friend and the boy’s mom, Cherise Miller, to Brookdale Hospital to formally identify the body of their only child.
“It was horrible,’’ he said. “I’m furious at what happened.’’
He added, “I’m outraged at the murder of a one-year-old baby.
“I grew up in this neighborhood and I’ve seen a lot – but this is the worst.
“I’m sick of what’s happening in this neighborhood.’’
Antiq is the second youngster shot in Brooklyn in recent days.
Tharell Edward was shot, also in the head, as he slept in his crib in Ditmas Park on Aug 24.
Police arrested Akeem Bernard, 22, a family acquaintance with a record of at least six arrests.