The NYPD has identified the teen who allegedly gunned down a 15-year-old boy when a bitter gang-fueled beef erupted during an innocent Queens water gun fight, a top cop said Tuesday.
Zahir Davis, 18 — reportedly a member of the emerging BG4 gang — has been confirmed as the gunman in the brazen caught-on-video shooting of Jaden Pierre inside Roy Wilkins Park in St. Albans Thursday night, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.
Davis is still on the lam and may have fled to Jamaica, sources told The Post.
Pierre was one of the hosts of the Instagram-hyped water gun fight, which drew hundreds of kids to the park, the chief said.
“A bunch of kids went there to have fun and play, but then you also had numerous gang members from the area,” Kenny said.
“Multiple different gangs showed up, and then they crossed paths. And this is what led to the shooting.”
Harrowing video shows the chaotic moments violent teens repeatedly pummeled Pierre before the fatal shot rang out and the victim – who took a bullet to the chest – collapsed.
“The kid that does most of the punching is screaming at him, taunting him, teasing him,” Kenny said. “Then you see the shooter step back. He pulls out the pistol.
“It appears that he’s trying to pistol-whip him, and when he hits him, the follow-through, the gun comes down to his chest, and the gun goes off.”
Lab testing will determine whether the teen shooter actually intended for the gun to go off.
Pierre had a simmering, months-long feud with the yet-to-be identified teen who landed most of the blows, Kenny said.
“They have an ongoing beef [dating back] to January, [where] the victim was jumped by that kid and assaulted,” the chief explained. “And then our victim’s [friends] caught him, slipped in and jumped to beat him up.”
A previous clash between girls on both the victim and shooters’ side also fueled the violence, he said.
At least six different gangs showed up at the otherwise innocent water fight, although the victim did not appear to have a gang affiliation and was merely there with his pals, the chief added.
“It’s, you know, unfortunate when you have these types of incidents, they spread like wildfire on social media,” he said.
“Everybody hears about it. And what better place to find your ops than at one of these locations.”
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Pierre’s mom previously pleaded for all involved to turn themselves in.
“You are all p—ies,” Shanelle Weston, 33, told the Daily News. “P—ies. You all beat on my son and that wasn’t enough.”
