Hours after the deadly stray bullet shooting of Bronx schoolgirl Evette Jeffrey outside of Bronx Career and College Preparatory High School, another young female student in the area made a striking comment about life in the borough.
“We live in the Bronx. It’s scary everywhere we go,” the student, who goes by the name Rhiny, said of the recent shootings.
Jeffrey, 16, lost her life on May 12 when a boy two years her junior opened fire during what police called a schoolyard fight. Just two nights later, another teenager had a brush with death but survived.
On May 14, a 15-year-old boy said he was wounded by a stray bullet while walking with his mother near 2244 Williamsbridge Road, NYPD sources said.
Then on Sunday evening, May 18, another deadly stray bullet shooting struck the borough. This time, 57-year-old Kevin Jennings was sitting on his walker along East 188th Street and Marion Avenue in Fordham Heights when a stray shot struck him in the head, killing him.
More than just shooting statistics
These are only a handful of shooting incidents that have left bystanders either seriously hurt or killed. Despite the high-profile nature of recent shootings, gunfire has decreased this year, according to police data. Cops report that the Bronx has seen 90 shooting incidents, leaving 105 victims in its wake. This is down 14.3% when compared to the same time last year.
Still, these numbers mean very little to the families who have felt these unimaginable losses firsthand and say, despite the negative connotations of the Bronx, the area is filled with hardworking people who are forced to live with the threat of deadly shootings.
Even after everything the Jeffrey family has suffered through, Jose Sanchez, Evette Jeffrey’s uncle, says the community is well-meaning, but is being “held hostage” by violent actors.
“They’re yelling support out their windows to our family. They are beautiful people who seem to be held hostage in these neighborhoods when it comes to the violence,” Sanchez said.
Though shootings have fallen in the borough, the area has seen a troubling spike of teen victims and participants in gun violence.
In 2024, Bronx shooting victims under the age of 18 rose by a staggering 200% compared to 2018, something Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch has attributed to the raise the age law. Additionally, in that same time period, shooters under the age of 18 have surged by 233%.
Sanchez called the influx of teen shooters scary.
“Incredibly scary. They can’t make the right decisions. They’re not old enough, they’re not mentally old enough to make the right decisions. They’re going to lead with anger and someone else is going to get hurt,” Sanchez said.
The Bronx is ‘not a shooting range’
Following a spate of high-profile shootings, Bronx residents demanded more police patrols. Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson is one of those who has lent her voice in a demand for more cops and an increase in youth programming.
“The tragic death of Evette Jeffrey is beyond heartbreaking, and my heart goes out to her family and everyone else who has been impacted by this senseless violence. Our borough is in mourning, and we are also calling for action. Too many of our young people are being caught in the crossfire,” Gibson told amNewYork. She said the city needed to invest in providing “real alternatives and access to opportunities” to keep young people out of harm’s way.
“We need immediate and sustained investment in youth programming and employment, so our youth have real alternatives and access to opportunities,” she added. “We need to strengthen our investment in our Cure Violence organizations — trusted community partners who are doing life-saving, preventative work. Additionally, we need an increased NYPD presence in high-risk neighborhoods so our residents and families can feel safe in their communities.”
In an interview with amNewYork, NYPD Deputy Chief of Patrol Borough Bronx Osvaldo Nunez said that authorities have heard the public and are taking action.
“The Police Commissioner has actually assigned the latest academy graduates to the Bronx,” Chief Nunez said. The Bronx received the largest number of recruits out of any other borough in the city. We received 238 brand new police officers who were all deployed to the Bronx, that’s way more than any other borough received. So, the police commissioner is committed, she hears the concerns that Bronx residents have and about wanting to see more police, and she came through.”
According to Nunez, much of the violence is driven by online beefs, such as drill rap, during which one group taunts and targets another. In recent cases, innocent members of the public have been caught up in a hail of bullets, leaving some telling amNewYork that they are scared to leave their homes.
However, while Nunez says he understands the sentiment, he says the NYPD’s effort to combat the shootings has left only small “hot pockets.”
“I understand their fear. But what they have to realize is that the zone-based policing is actually evidence that not all of the Bronx is a shooting range,” he explained. “We identify small areas in each precinct, and they’re much smaller than the overall precinct. Some of these zones are maybe six blocks, some of them could be larger. And so that zone-based policing shows you that it’s not something that’s systemic throughout the entire Bronx.”
