Gunfire kills boy, 15, at Riverbank State Park in Harlem: NYPD

A 15-year-old boy died Saturday after he was caught in a hail of gunfire at Riverbank State Park in Harlem, police and witnesses said.

Shots rang out at about 6:42 p.m. inside the park atop the city sewage plant at Riverside Drive and W. 145th St., said police.

Clark Peña, a witness, said the shooting occurred at the southern end of the park, near its gate at W. 138th St.

“There were children playing, having a picnic with their parents, music blaring — it was a regular day in the park,” said Peña. “All of a sudden, six or seven shots rang out.”

“Parents snatched their children and ran as fast as they could away from the shots,” said Peña, 55. “I was running towards the shots and I was asking them, ‘Is anyone shot? Is anyone shot?’ and they were just frantic.”

A startled parent pointed Peña to a boy lying face down near basketball courts at the park’s southern edge, near a playground.

“When I arrived, I immediately saw this man was bleeding underneath, and he was completely unresponsive,” said Peña, who lives nearby.

Peña dialed 911, and state park police quickly arrived on scene. Peña said he gave the teen chest compressions while a police officer applied a tourniquet to a gunshot wound on teen’s leg.

“When he was turned over we noticed a wound to his upper right chest area,” Peña added. “Then we turned him over again to see if there was an exit wound but there was no exit wound.”

“He was totally unresponsive unfortunately. He didn’t look well. We did our best,” he said.

Medics rushed the teen to Mt. Sinai Morningside Hospital, where he was pronounced dead around 7:16 p.m., said police.

Cops are searching for a man in his 20s who ran from the park toward W. 145th St.

“What really got to me the most is the children. I’ll get over it,” Peña said. “But how is this going to affect the children? They’re in a park. It’s supposed to be a safe haven.”

The investigation remained ongoing Saturday night.