At least 50 youths across the Big Apple were shot or killed in gun crimes so far this year — with Bronx 12-year-old Jacob Freytes being just the latest tragedy, crime statistics show.
Staggering NYPD data reveals that 49 victims of shootings were youths under 18 during the first half of 2026.
An identical number — 49 — of suspected shooters were also not even legally able to vote, the data shows.
The numbers provided by the NYPD cut off at the end of June, nearly a month before a stray bullet struck Freytes near a Bronx bodega.
Freytes, the son of a retired NYPD sergeant, had just bought a ball at the bodega and walked outside when he got caught in the crossfire of a wild street brawl.
The innocent youngster ran inside the bodega clutching his chest before he collapsed, harrowing video footage showed.
He was declared dead at a nearby hospital.
The July 25 shooting followed a steady spate of gun violence that befell teens.
Just two days before, a 15-year-old boy was shot in the foot after what police described as a dispute in Bushwick, Brooklyn.
And a 17-year-old girl was among the victims of a July 20 shooting in a Brooklyn McDonald’s parking lot, police said.
The total number of gun violence incidents involving young victims or shooters during 2026’s first half was actually down compared to the same span of 2025, data shows.
During the first six months last year, there 57 victims of gun violence under 18 and 53 suspected shooters the same age, according to the data.
Shootings involving victims and perpetrators of all ages actually hit the lowest level in the NYPD’s recorded history during the first six months this year, data shows.
But as the number of shootings fell, the share of suspected shooters under 18 increased.
They accounted for nearly 22% of shooters during 2026’s first half, data shows.
By comparison, youths were just 8% of shooters during the same span in 2018, according to data.
