78-year-old innocent bystander shot dead yards from his NYC home after being hit by stray bullet

A 78-year-old innocent bystander was killed after being hit by a stray bullet just yards from his home in The Bronx, police and sources said Friday.

Edgar Spence was found with a gunshot wound to his torso only doors down from his home in Mott Haven after police were called to reports of an assault just before 10:30 p.m. Thursday, cops and sources said.

Early investigations suggest a stray bullet hit Spence, and that he was not intentionally targeted in the shooting, law enforcement sources said.

A mobility scooter believed to belong to the victim was pictured at the scene on Alexander Avenue, near East 137th Street.

A 78-year-old innocent bystander was shot dead in the South Bronx Thursday night.

First responders performed chest compressions and other life-saving measures and transported Spence to a hospital for treatment, but he could not be saved.

No suspects have been publicly identified.

78-year-old Edgar Spence’s mobility scooter at the scene of the shooting in Mott Haven. Christopher Sadowski for NY Post

The tragic shooting comes just weeks after a young man was gunned down, also in the South Bronx, following a years-long feud with his elderly neighbor, according to authorities.

Gilbert Smalls, 76, was arrested after admitting to gunning down 21-year-old Justin Chatfield following a dispute in their Morris Heights apartment building on April 2, cops and sources said.

Weeks earlier, 27-year-old Jayvontae Simmons was slain execution-style inside a South Bronx housing project, with no suspects identified.

Simmons is believed to have been targeted in the shooting on the morning of March 6 inside the Forest Houses NYCHA building on East 165th Street in Morrisania, where he lived, according to police and law enforcement sources.

Despite this, major crime in the Bronx was down 9.4% in the first quarter of 2026 compared with 2025, the biggest drop of any borough, according to official NYPD figures.

The city saw a record low of 54 murders in the first three months of 2026, beating the previous all-time low of 60 murders set in 2018.

Major crime also declined 5.3% citywide, with a joint lowest number of 139 shooting incidents in the first quarter, tied with 2025.