Staten Island, New York. Photo: Fb78/ Wikimedia Commons.

A Jewish man and his son were shot with BB guns on Sunday while standing outside a kosher supermarket in the Staten Island borough of New York City.

Two suspects driving a black Ford Mustang grazed the son, who is 7-years-old, on the ear and impacted the father in the chest. According to CBS New York, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) has said its investigators are still determining whether the assailants targeted the man and his son, who were wearing yarmulkes during the attack, because they are Jewish.

“The Staten Island Jewish community is very disturbed by this incident. Thank God the victims weren’t severely injured and are OK,” Ari Weiss of Staten Island Shomrim told CBS on Monday. “We at the Staten Island Shomrim are working closely with NYPD’s 121 & Hate Crime detectives to identity and apprehend those responsible for these acts. We can all be very confident this will be resolved quickly, the NYPD detectives are the best in the world.”

Antisemitic hate crimes in New York City during the month of November increased by 125 percent when compared to last year, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) reported on Monday. According to their data, Jewish New Yorkers were the most targeted group, accounting for 60 percent of all hate crimes that occurred.

In April, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), reported that more antisemitic incidents are recorded in New York than in any other state, accounting for “an astounding 15 percent of the total reported antisemitic incidents across the country.”

Twitter: @DionJPierre