Similarly, there have been 49 shooters who have also been under the age of 18.
During the first half of 2026 alone, 49 of the shooting victims in the Big Apple were under 18 years of age, per the New York Post. Similarly, there have been 49 shooters who have also been under the age of 18. The numbers are figures from January through June, about a month before a stray bullet in the Bronx struck a 12-year-old boy.
Freytes, who is the son of a retired NYPD sergeant, was buying a ball at a bodega when a shootout took place on the street. After getting shot, he ran into the bodega, where he collapsed and was later declared deceased at a nearby hospital. The July 25 shooting is the latest example of gun violence that has impacted teens in the city.
Freytes' mother, Migdalia Martinez, spoke out this week after the tragic loss of her son, telling reporters, “Criminals feel more safe now than ever." She told the Post that the problem is with the courts, and that they are “holding the hand” of criminals.
“There’s no more doing time for misdemeanors. There’s no bail … People are just walking free with the possibilities. The system works more for the criminal than they’re gonna work for the victim," she added.
"He doesn't have a life anymore. He didn't never get to reach 13. He will never graduate high school. And the guy that killed him did. He will never have a girlfriend, and the guy that killed him did. He will never have kids. And that guy that killed him did," she told NBC New York.
She added that her son only got to live "some" of his life, and then added, "I just want him to do the rest."
Two days before the shooting of Freytes, a 15-year-old got shot in the foot in Brooklyn during a dispute. On July 20, a 17-year-old girl was shot in a McDonald's parking lot. The number of shootings, however, has dropped from the same timeframe last year where there were 57 in the first half of 2025.
And although the number of shootings involving all ages has hit a low mark, the number of perpetrators who are under 18 has gone up. 22 percent of all shootings during the first six months of the year were carried out by minors, the Post reported. In 2018, that was just 8 percent.
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