A 16-year-old boy who was killed as he and a friend horsed around with a gun in the Bronx believed the pistol was empty moments before he was fatally shot in the head, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Thursday.
John Nunez, his 16-year-old pal, and a third teen were playing with the firearm inside a bedroom of a home on Prospect Ave. near E.169th St. on Aug. 10 when the 16-year-old asked the victim if there was a bullet still in the chamber, Kenny said at a briefing at NYPD headquarters.
“They’re playing with a firearm. (John) is asked, ‘Is there one in the head?’ meaning, is there one in the chamber?” Kenny explained.
John told his friend, “No,” so the other boy popped out the magazine, pointed the pistol at Nunez, and pulled the trigger, Kenny said.
“There was one in the chamber, and he accidentally shoots (Nunez) in the head,” Kenny said.
Nunez was shot around 5:10 a.m. and died at the scene.
Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News
The body of 16-year-old John Nunez is removed from a building on Prospect Avenue in the Bronx on Aug. 10, 2026. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
The 16-year-old who pulled the trigger ran off. Cops have identified the teen and were actively searching for him, police said Thursday.
Cops questioned the third friend, an 18-year-old boy, but the older teen wasn’t charged, cops said.
“We’re hurt. We’re devastated. Our hearts are shattered,” John’s oldest sister, Sol Nunez, said at the family’s Bronx home the night of the shooting. “It’s unbelievable.”
The grieving big sister said she was certain the gun did not belong to her brother.
“He did not own any gun. He did not own anything,” she said. “Me and him, we share a room, so I know every time that he would come home, I would check through his stuff.”
“My mom was really on top of him most of the time. He did not own, like, anything,” Sol Nunez said.
Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News
Family members grieve at the scene after a 16-year-old boy was fatally shot inside a house on Prospect Ave. near E.169th St. in the Bronx on Aug. 10, 2026. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
The teen suspect ran off with the pistol, but left the magazine behind, Kenny said. A shell casing was also recovered at the scene.
The teen cops are looking for has five prior arrests for crimes that include burglary and robbery, Kenny said.
Nunez described her brother as “a really funny person” who loved to play with children.
Courtesy of family
John Nunez, 16, was fatally shot in a home on Prospect Ave. in the Bronx on Monday, August 10, 2026. (Courtesy of family)
“Every time he would come in the house. The joy came back. He was always in my heart,” she said. “He is always gonna stay by me. He’s always gonna be a part of me. And I will just always remember that.”
John attended Metropolitan High School as a senior and was the youngest of three siblings, with two older sisters. He enjoyed playing basketball and video games, his sister said.
After high school, he aspired to join the U.S. Marines like his sister and uncle, relatives said.
“He was always making sure that I was okay. He was always making sure that he was there for me, and it’s really heartbreaking that I won’t have that anymore,” Nunez said.