A 16-year-old Bronx boy was shot in the back while trying to run away from a group of masked assailants, police and witnesses said Friday.

Cops are investigating if the shooting was related to an earlier incident in the same area, police sources told the Daily News.

Cops responding to a call about a man shot near E. 161st St. and Forest Ave. in the South Bronx found the boy with a gunshot wound to the back around 9:30 a.m., police said.

EMS rushed the boy in stable condition to Harlem Hospital . He is expected to recover.

The victim was walking alone when a group of three or four young men, all wearing masks, appeared and shouted out a name, prompting the victim to turn around and start running in the opposite direction, said a 38-year-old woman who witnessed the scene but asked no

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