Queens shooting victim's brother admits being the target

BY MATTHEW LYSIAK and MICHAEL WHITE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Monday, December 31st 2007, 12:54 PM

The older brother of an 11-year-old Queens boy shot point-blank in the door of the family's house admitted Monday he was the target - but denied knowing who was gunning for him.

"Someone wants me dead," 16-year-old Tony Falconer Jr. said.

"I don't know why. I think this is related to what happened three weeks ago. Try(ing) to send a message."

Authorities said Falconer was involved in a dispute three weeks ago in which someone was shot.

"Three weeks ago was over a girl," he said. "My cousin was shot in the eye."

He said he was scared and upset that his little brother, Tyshon, was attacked last night, but insisted, "It wasn't my fault that he got shot."

The gunman knocked on the door and at first asked for Tony Falconer Jr., before pumping a bullet into Tyshon's chest.

"He went to ... answer the door," said the boys' father, Tony Falconer Sr. "He thought it was his brother. He told his mom he's sorry he opened door."

Falconer Sr. said Monday that Tyshon, his mouth spilling blood, bravely managed to walk up the stairs before falling into his father's arms.

"Daddy, I think I got shot," Tyshon told his dad as they converged on the staircase after the shooting at the family's Springfield Gardens home.

"I met him halfway up the stairs. There was blood coming out of his mouth," Tony Falconer Sr. said. "I took off his shirt. I saw the hole in the middle of his chest.

"I would say [the shooter] is a coward. Pick on your own size."

Tyshon is listed in stable condition at Long Island Jewish Medical Center. No arrests have been made, cops said.