NYC Mom Shot in Head Trying to Break Up Neighbor’s Fight; Shooter on the Run

A mother is fighting for survival at a Manhattan hospital as the neighbor who shot her during a heated hallway argument continues to evade police.

The armed gunman was still on the run from police Friday, two days after allegedly shooting his 41-year-old neighbor who police say tried to break up a fight on the sixth floor of their East Harlem building.

Neighbors and friends have been in shock since the 8 a.m. shooting at the Lincoln Houses on East 135th Street sent the mother to the hospital in critical condition. Investigators say she was shot in the head, stomach and thigh.

Nicole Williams says she’s been friends with the victim for years and rushed to the building after hearing the news.

“My son lives here. They called me and told me she got shot in the head by a neighbor that just moved here,” Williams said.

The search for a gunman is still on after a woman was shot in the head following an argument with her neighbor in Harlem. NBC New York’s Adam Harding reports.

Police say the victim stepped out into the hallway Wednesday morning when her neighbor, Avery Dunning, pulled out a firearm and fired at the woman.

“I love her. She’s not a bad person, she was probably trying to do the right thing,” Williams said.

The NYPD released a first look of the alleged gunman late Thursday, identifying the 35-year-old wanted for the morning gun violence.

“We’re seeing guns coming into our community so accessible, that instead of what people would have normally done – have an argument and go back home – that the gun is so accessible, it’s the thing that’s pulled out to resolve the conflict,” said Lesha Sekou, of Street Corner Resources, a neighborhood non-profit working to combat gun violence.