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U.S. Army veteran takes a bullet to protect kids in Harlem street shootout

The New York Daily News - 7/14/2021

An Army veteran, wounded in a street shootout between two Harlem gunmen, sported a smile and a nasty wound Wednesday after taking a bullet to spare kids playing nearby on the sidewalk.

Lucky-to-be-alive Tony Grier, 59, lifted his shirt to show the injury suffered one day earlier when the shooters opened fire just down the block from the innocent children. The veteran of Operation Desert Storm said he was trying to protect the youngsters when shot in the abdomen around 6 p.m. Tuesday on Fifth Ave. near W. 118th St.

“I heard [bullets] whiz by my head,” said Grier, who was taking out some cardboard boxes from a local deli owned by a friend. “I looked at the owner and I said, ‘What are we going to do?’ You know? We looked over and all the kids were scrambling ... So yeah, I took the hit.”

No arrests were made after the shootout between a group of about a half-dozen men and their intended target. An eyewitness recalled one gunman ignoring her plea to stop before pulling the trigger.

“I asked him, ‘Please don’t do that. There’s a baby right here,’” recalled the woman, who was talking to a friend with two children inside their car when she saw the gun. “He scooted up a little bit, ‘Like ‘I’ll move out of your way, but I ain’t gonna stop.’ ... And I got down on the floor and started saying my little prayers.”

According to Grier and the other witness, the six men were hovering outside of the Prince Deli & Grocery when their target appeared down the block wearing a ski mask and a white T-shirt draped over his head.

“The [shooter] looks down there and said, ‘That’s them right there,’” recounted Grier. “He pulled out his gun and started shooting.”

The target pulled his own gun and immediately returned fire before all involved bolted from the scene. When the wounded Grier went back inside the deli, the bullet fell out of his shirt.

“I’ve been hit and shot at before,” he explained.

Grier said the storeowner, who served with him during Desert Storm, began screaming at the gunman who fired the first shot.

“He started yelling, ‘Hey, what’s the matter with you? Are you out of your mind?’” recalled Grier.

The other eyewitness recounted an air of menace on the street before she first saw the shooter and his friends appear.

“I have an eerie feeling,” she said. “And I turn around, and I see the boys, and they look dangerous. Like their eyes and their face. They look ready for something.”

©2021 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.