Flatbush Man Gets 24 Years For Shooting 13-Year-Old Bystander

FLATBUSH, BROOKLYN — A Flatbush man will spend the next 24 years behind bars for shooting a 13-year-old bystander when he was aiming for someone else, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Kareem Potomont, 24, was convicted of the crime last month.

"The young victim of this senseless shooting, who bravely endured multiple surgeries and lost an eye, will suffer the consequences of it for the rest of his life," Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement. "Today's sentence holds the defendant accountable and should serve as a warning that gun violence such as this will not be tolerated on the streets of Brooklyn.”

Just before noon on Monday, April 14, 2014, Potomont opened fire on a 24-year-old near Flatbush Avenue and Beverley Road, the D.A.'s office said. He hit the man in the leg, but a nearby 13-year-old, who was waiting for the bus with his aunt and cousin, was hit in the right eye by a stray bullet, the office said.

Potomont was caught on video firing the gun and then fleeing the scene, the office said. He was arrested in a basement in Jamaica, Queens.

The teenager lost vision in his right eye and eventually had it removed.

Image via Brooklyn D.A.'s Office