Bronx detectives are questioning a person of interest following a shooting rampage inside an apartment building on Wednesday morning that left one man dead and two others seriously wounded.
A massive police presence converged in the area of 1412 College Ave. in Claremont after the shooting happened just before 8:35 a.m. on Aug. 27. Throughout the morning, two police helicopters swirled above numerous police officers and detectives who sealed off the area of East 170th Street and College Avenue while investigating the shooting.
Officers from the 44th Precinct first responded to the location after receiving a 911 call about the shooting. Upon arrival, they were informed that the person of interest, a 44-year-old man, had shot three victims inside the College Avenue apartment building.
Police located two of the victims at the scene: a 37-year-old man shot in the chest and a 62-year-old man who took a bullet in the arm. EMS rushed both victims to a local hospital, where the 37-year-old man was pronounced dead; police have not yet released his identity, pending family notification. The 62-year-old man, meanwhile, was listed in stable condition.
Later, police learned that a third victim, a 59-year-old man shot in the buttocks, had arrived at a local hospital via private means seeking treatment. He is also in stable condition, police sources reported.
The motive for the shooting remains unknown, law enforcement sources said. It was not immediately known whether the three victims and their alleged shooter knew each other.
Wednesday’s shooting and the massive police response rattled neighbors like Lourdes Escalera, 65, who has lived in the community for five years after moving there from Oregon. Now, she wants to move back to the West Coast.
“I love my Bronx, love my people, love my neighborhood, but I just wanna go back,” Escalera said. “Now I wanna go back and stay over there. Coming outside without worries and things like that, it’s much better. It’s hard to even have fun outside in the summer. This is not good for older people.”
The suspected 44-year-old male shooter was taken into custody near the scene and brought in for questioning, police sources said. Charges against him are pending the results of the ongoing investigation.
According to NYPD statistics, the 44th Precinct has seen six homicides year-to-date through Aug. 24 — half the total reported at the same point in 2024. Shootings were also down 48.5% for the year, with just 17 incidents through Sunday.
