The Bronx neighborhood where a female police officer was killed early Wednesday was known to be dangerous, the president of the police union said.
“Police officer Miosotis Familia, the mother of three, gave her life protecting a neighborhood that had been plagued by gang gun violence,” Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch said in a statement.
Familia was shot in the face by Alexander Bonds, of the Bronx, at about 12:30 a.m. as she sat in an NYPD “command vehicle” stationed near Morris Avenue and East 183rd Street in Fordham Heights in the 46th Precinct. She later died at St. Barnabas Hospital, officials said.
NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill said the mobile-home-sized command center where Familia was killed had been stationed at the intersection since March, following a number of “gang and crew shootings” in the area.
On the block were the command center was stationed, a man shot three people in broad daylight on March 16, 2017, according to police. Two of the victims, a 21-year-old woman and a 23-year-old man, had been inside a taxi, while the third, a 28-year-old man, was inside a building at 124 East 183rd Street.
There were 18 shootings and two murders between Jan. 1, 2017, and July 2, 2017, in the 46th Precinct, which includes parts of Fordham, University Heights, Morris Heights and Mount Hope, the NYPD said. That’s 12.5 percent more than the number of shooting incidents the precinct saw in the same time period in 2016, and it’s higher than incidents in surrounding precincts, according to NYPD data.
In all of 2016, there were 33 shootings and 14 murders in the 46th Precinct.
Marismar Souza, 67, who lives on East 182nd Street, said she feels like shootings “happen all the time.”
“We lock our doors, go to bed and we don’t worry about what’s going on at night,” she said.
In front of Joselin Deli Grocery, a store near the scene of Wednesday’s shooting, a trio of friends spoke about the neighborhood being “cursed.”
“There’s something in the air,” said Monica, a 20-year resident of Fordham Heights who asked only to be identified by her first name. “There’s nothing for these kids to do here. These kids are like nothing I’ve seen before. They took this woman’s life. I feel sorry for this lady.”
Monica said she was waiting for her son to graduate from high school this year before moving away.
“They will not kill me. I’m running away,” she said.
Eric VanNess, 43, who lives on East 183rd Street, also said he is trying to move away from the area.
“This is crazy. They have a patrol team on this block at all times and this still happened,” he said, adding that he sends his kids to a school in a different neighborhood because he doesn’t like the area. “It’s just drugs and gangs, man.”
With Adeja Crearer, Laura Figueroa and Alison Fox
