Why are so many teens being shot to death in New York City? NYPD blames legal loopholes

New York City has seen a sharp increase in the shooting deaths of teenagers as 2024 winds down, and the NYPD is pointing blame at a set of “mysterious” laws they say are contributing to the slaughter.

According to police statistics, the Big Apple has seen 15 youths under the age of 18 murdered by gunfire year-to-date this year, compared to 12 in 2023. Moreover, authorities say that 438 people under the age of 18 have been arrested for possession of a firearm this year alone, accounting for 12% of all gun arrests in New York.

But before 2018, the NYPD reported that the number did not exceed 10%. So what changed?

According to NYPD Chief of Crime Control Strategies Michael Lipetri, the problem seems to be a section of the “Raise the Age” laws that prohibit teens from being prosecuted as adults for some major crimes over the past six years.

“It’s not just Raise the Age, Raise the Age we agree with, as far as the ages go, we don’t agree with the secrecy and the change in the law when a youth gets arrested for violent seven major [crimes] or a gun. A lot of it is shrouded in secrecy,” Chief Lipetri said. “If a youth gets arrested with a gun, then that youth gets designated a youthful offender or a juvenile offender in court that arrest, though, doesn’t make it to his or her rapsheet.“

A seven-year-old girl was hit with a stray bullet from a gang dispute between teenagers in Harlem on Nov. 11.Photo by Dean Moses

Because many teens have not been fully prosecuted or held accountable for gun violence, police believe this has actually put the youths in danger of returning to (or becoming a victim of) gang violence directly after a shooting has occurred.

Police brass believe teens should not be jailed for minor, nonviolent offenses — but that the criminal justice system must hold accountable those suspected of engaging in potentially lethal violence.

“Today, I was looking at a case of youth violence in Manhattan North involving seven under the age of 18 individuals; all seven of them have open cases in the youth Supreme Court, meaning serious cases. One of them I looked at, he got killed recently. So that’s a perfect example of being involved in serious crime,” Lipetri said. “Here’s something else that will astonish you: Just in the Bronx alone, there’ve been 14 incidents of shooting violence, 13 of them have the average age of 16.”

Chief of Crime Control Strategies Michael Lipetri. Photo by Dean Moses

Lipetri says that the NYPD are contending with attempting to quell gang violence that he asserts predominantly plagues the Bronx, Brooklyn North, and Manhattan North while also coming up against gun-toting teens who are released from custody with blank slates.

On Nov, 9, 17-year-old Xavier Navarez was shot to death on Beekman Avenue and Oak Terrace in Mott Haven. That same day another 17-year-old and a 15-year-old were shot and wounded just hours apart, creating a tight vacuum of violence that police say is spurred on by social media beefs and drill rap.

“That’s just in one weekend. Then on top of that, within that time frame, we arrested two individuals with a gun aged 12 and 15. There’s a correlation, that 12-year-old was just shot just a month ago and was arrested for shots fired, but at the time was only 11,” Lipetri said.

A teen is arrested in Upper Manhatten. Photo by Dean Moses

A 45-year-old woman was left hospitalized Tuesday afternoon after a group of young teens fired wildly into a Harlem street, authorities said. Photo by Dean Moses

Since 2018, police say the advent of teens being released following gun and violent arrests have essentially handcuffed cops when it comes to preventing youth shootings. They say they attempt to deploy outreach units to speak with at-risk kids, but without being held liable, they are often free to return to the streets and crew affiliation.

“We need help from other agencies. There are many agencies that are involved in youth overall, but when you look at, specifically, youth crime and youth victims, you know, at some point, and again, we’re talking about low-level offenses here at all. At some point there has to be consequences, which means the youth part of the DA’s office has to be involved. The court Council, the New York City Law Department,” Lipetri said. “Unless things change with that, I don’t see much change because we’re arresting them at the highest levels. But who’s it hurting? It’s hurting the underage youth out there being victims of very, very serious crimes.”