The 14-year-old boy stabbed to death by a gang of teens in a Bronx playground appears to have been jumped in a case of mistaken identity — with someone filming as he was pistol-whipped, beaten and repeatedly knifed, according to police sources and prosecutors.
Ninth-grader Angel Mendoza was jumped by a mob of kids at Williamsbridge Oval Playground in Norwood late Tuesday in revenge for an earlier fight that he was not involved in, law enforcement sources told The Post.
Cellphone video captured the pack zeroing in on Mendoza before smashing him “in the face with a Taurus 9mm pistol” and then repeatedly striking and kicking him on “his head, face and body,” court documents state.
One of the attackers was then filmed stabbing him “one time in the chest and one time in the abdomen,” the court documents said.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the gang filmed the violence themselves or if it was captured by a bystander.
Still, the youngster — who regularly hung out at the park — was likely just collateral damage given he was friends with two teens who had earlier clashed with the gang shortly before the bloodbath, sources said.
Mendoza wasn’t believed to have had any involvement in the earlier melee, which apparently saw another teen stabbed, according to the sources.
Cops found Mendoza clinging to life when they rushed to the blood-covered playground around 7:30 p.m.
He was taken to Jacobi Medical Center, but was pronounced dead just before 9 p.m., police said.
A 17-year-old boy who was also found stabbed in the shoulder and abdomen went to Montefiore Medical Center, where he was in stable condition, cops added.
Four teens — Andrew Ansah, 18, Jordan Williams, 18, and two boys, ages 15 and 16, whose names were not released because they are minors — have since been arrested and charged over the grisly killing.
They all face charges of murder, manslaughter and two counts each of gang assault and criminal possession of a weapon.
At least one knife and a firearm were recovered at the scene, according to court documents.
The victim lived just three blocks from the popular park and would regularly frequent the hotspot to play basketball, his family said.
