One man is dead and five others wounded in separate shootings as police struggle to make arrests in three previous homicides the night before.
Police say a 39-year-old man was shot dead on a Bronx Street.
The shootings represent a continuation of the ongoing gun violence in the city, much of it caused by a proliferation of handguns as a result of a lull in enforcement during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gun violence has escalated nationwide as crime in big cities rises for a variety of reasons depending on who is addressing the issue.
Here is a rundown of the shootings:
July 25, 11:26 p.m. – A 38-year-old man was reportedly shot five times in the chest in Woodside, Queens, but still showed up by private vehicle at Mt. Sinai Hospital where he was reported in stable condition.
Police from the 114th Precinct say they found he was shot in front 40-07 10th in Sunnyside and found spent shells around the area. Police sealed off the street and say the victim is “uncooperative.”
July 25, 8:30 p.m. – A man was reportedly shot in the leg at the corner of Herkimer Street and Hunterfly Place in East New York, Brooklyn after a dispute, police from the 75th Precinct say.
The victim was taken to Brookdale University Medical Center and was in stable condition. There are very few details on this incident.
July 26, 12:42 a.m. – Police from the 120th Precinct found a 32-year-old man with a gunshot wound to the right leg in the rear of 260 Park Hill Avenue in Staten Island. The victim was rushed by EMS to Staten Island University North, where he was pronounced deceased from a severe loss of blood
There are no arrests and the investigation is ongoing.
July 26, 1:30 a.m. – A man was reportedly shot in the leg at Courtland Avenue and East 156th Street in the Bronx. Police say he heard shots and felt pain, but could not give a description of the shooter.
July 26, 3:10 a.m. – Police from the 49th Precinct found a 37-year-old man shot once in the head in front of 2760 Bronx Park East in the Bronx. EMS pronounced the man dead at the scene.
Police are looking for witnesses in this incident and are studying security video from surrounding buildings. The victim has not yet been identified.
July 26, 5:42 a.m. – A 24-year-old man was shot once in the head and a second man was shot once in the groin at Garden Street and Grott Street in the Bronx.
Both men were rushed by EMS to St. Barnabas Hospital where the man shot in the head is in critical condition and the second man is stable.
Police from the 48th Precinct say there was a large gathering at the location when a violent dispute broke out. At least one man pulled out a handgun and began firing. A description of the suspect has not been given thus far.
In addition to these shootings, there were reports of shots fired in Bedford Stuyvesant and Brownsville.
Meanwhile, no arrests have been made in any of Friday’s homicides.
Friends of the Ancil Blackman, 39, of President Street who was gunned down Friday night in front of a Crown Heights church believe he was killed by a neighbor because of an ongoing dispute.
One friend said Blackman, an immigrant of Trinidad, would often get into arguments with people and had a “bad habit” of picking fights with “the wrong people.”
A memorial was set up for Blackman outside his building on President Street as police search for his killer.
Later today, a wake will be held for a 1-year-old shot to death in his stroller with four other people on July 12. A funeral will be held Monday for the toddler, where Rev. Al Sharpton will deliver the eulogy in Brooklyn.
Anyone with information in regard to any of these shootings is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, or on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls are strictly confidential.
