A 64-year-old retiree out to pick up a Thanksgiving turkey was struck by a stray bullet during a broad daylight Manhattan shootout — with the slug now lodged dangerously close to her spine.
Francisca Nunez was walking at West 204th Street and Broadway at 4:18 p.m. Monday when a gang of teen hoodlums opened fire, striking her in the buttocks, with the punks still on the loose, police said.
Now Nunez, who was planning to return home to the Dominican Republic next month, is at Harlem Hospital, where doctors have been unable to remove the bullet, longtime friend Jose Louis said.
“I’m angry,” Louis, who has known Nunez for 30 years, told The Post Wednesday. “They could have killed my friend. She could have got shot in the head, she could have got shot in the chest.
“It’s sad that it happened,” he said. “No matter what day or time, but it’s even sadder because it happened so close to Thanksgiving. Everybody is celebrating Thanksgiving but she’s going to be in the hospital.”
Police said at least a half-dozen suspects were behind the shooting, but it is unclear what sparked it and who was being targeted when the retiree was accidentally hit instead.
Nunez told WABC Eyewitness News that the teens were arguing when one pulled a knife before the shots rang out, knocking her to the ground.
She told the outlet she felt “heat” from the bullet, then saw her blood gushing out.
Cops have launched a manhunt for the crew but have not announced any arrests.
Nunez retired to the Dominican Republic but came back to New York for a visit about seven months ago and was planning to return home next month, Louis said.
He said he believed Nunez was in the area to take advantage of turkeys and other Thanksgiving trimmings that were being donated in the neighborhood when she was hit.
“These streets around here are very bad,” he said. “It’s happening too often in this neighborhood.
“Who are you looking for?” Louis said, referring to the gunmen. “How did you get the gun? Why are you carrying a knife? Why are you carrying a gun? I have too many questions to ask them.”
