Metro

8-year-old Bronx boy shot by gangbanger will have to live with bullet in shoulder

The Bronx second-grader allegedly shot by a gangbanger will have to live with a bullet in his shoulder because doctors fear complications if they trying to remove it, his family said.

Brave little Armando Bigo, 8, was finally released from Jacobi Hospital today, six days after being wounded in a Bronx bodega by a stray shot fired by one gang member at another.

“He’s doing fine. He’s playing with his toys. He’s having a little pain because they’ve not removed the bullet,” said the child’s aunt, Ellie Flores. But she added, “We’re happy he’s doing a lot better.”

Armando was with his mother, picking out a snack in a Soundview store last Tuesday, when perp Eduardo Rodriguez allegedly fired at members of a rival gang clustered at the door and struck the boy. Rodriguez faces attempted-murder, assault and criminal-possession charges in the case.

During Armando’s hospital stay, he asked, “Mommy, can I please go home?” his aunt said.

But although Armando was eager to come home, “He’s scared,” Flores said. “He doesn’t want to get shot again.”

“He told the doctor yesterday he’s afraid to go home because he doesn’t want to get shot again, even though he knows [the bullet] wasn’t intended for him,” she said.

The boy will be home-schooled for a while because the wound left him with trouble moving his neck and arm. He’ll also wear a neck brace for a while, family members said.