NEW YORK – A man who was paralyzed from a shot fired by a random sniper 30 years ago has died, and the medical examiner has declared his death a homicide.
Gilberto Medina, 70, of the Bronx, who became paraplegic as a result of his injuries on Oct. 25, 1977, died of an infection on March 21.
"He died of complications of remote gunshot wounds of the spine with paraplegia," Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the city medical examiner, said Wednesday.
The medical examiner ruled that the gunshot ultimately caused Medina's death, she added.
She defined homicide as "the actions of one person causing the death of another."
Police said Wednesday that no one was ever arrested in the case. They had no further details.
Medina was shot in an area of the South Bronx known in the 1970s for its high crime rate and urban decay.
The neighborhood gained notoriety following the 1981 film "Fort Apache, The Bronx," starring Paul Newman, which follows two New York City police officers assigned to a police precinct dubbed "Fort Apache."
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