Three young men were shot to death in the Bronx and Queens during the latest spate of gunfire across New York City between Friday night and Saturday morning. A Manhattan man was also stabbed to death.
While there has been a decrease in the rate of serious assaults, the situation remains worrisome for police officials and community groups combine struggling to reduce the violence in the city.
Meanwhile, on Friday, the family of 22-year-old Armani Hamilton, of Kingsborough 3 Walk, mourned his loss at the Grace Funeral Home on Conduit Boulevard in East New York. Hamilton, a school para who worked students with disabilities, was slain outside his car after running errands in front of his building at the Kingsborough Houses, a NYCHA development in Bedford Stuyvesant.
Hamilton was shot twice in the chest by someone apparently waiting for him outside his building. He was rushed to Kings County Hospital but could not be saved.
His mother Maria Gonzalez said, “He was a special kid, he worked with his kids with disabilities.”
“He had just gotten done running errands and asked if I wanted Chinese food. He never made it upstairs, I called his phone and ran outside to him laying on the ground. I believe he was set up,” Gonzalez said.
His father Anthony Armani Hamilton hugged Gonzalez and mourned his son’s loss.
“This shocked me to the core,” Hamilton said. “I told him to be careful as Brooklyn is hot. This is a bad to me as it is for the family that buried the 1-year-old (killed in his stroller on July 12). I have so many fond memories of that young man. He was very intelligent and hard work. We are hurt. Put the guns down.”
Pastor Elias Loadholt said it should be a minimum of 10 years of you are caught with a gun. “It doesn’t matter if the weapon is loaded,” he said.
Here’s a rundown of the violence from overnight:
July 31, 9:30 p.m. – A man was shot in the lower back at the corner of East 146th Street and Brook Avenue, police say. He was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital in stable condition. No word on suspects.
July 31, 5:54 p.m. – Police from the 34th Precinct responded to a 911 call of a male stabbed at 520 Audubon Ave. in Manhattan. Police found a 48-year-old male with stab wounds to the neck and torso. EMS rushed him to Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, but he could not be saved.
The victim has been identified as Telmo Ruiz, 48, of Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn. The motive for the attack is still not known, though sources say he may have been in a dispute at the location.
July 31, 10:41 p.m. – A 21-year-old man was found shot in the torso at the corner of 1741 Randall Avenue in the Bronx. Police from the 43rd Precinct said the victim was unconscious and unresponsive. He was rushed to Jacobi Medical Center where he could not be saved.
Police identified the victim as Wilson, Shaiquan, 21 of Cruger Avenue in the Bronx. The motive in the attack was not revealed.
The suspect was described as a dark-skinned man, thin build, last seen wearing a black hoodie sweatshirt, black pants with a white stripe on the side, black sneakers, and wearing a white mask.
August 1, 1:35 a.m. – A 34-year-old man was found by the 49th Precinct in front of 1166 Burke Avenue, Eastchester Bronx, when multiple bullet wounds to the torso and left arm. He was rushed by EMS to Jacobi Medical Center where he was later pronounced dead from his wounds.
The victim has been identified as Forest Byrd, 34, of Yates Avenue in the Bronx. Motive in the attack has not yet been revealed.
August 1, 6:34 a.m. – A 35-year-old man was found shot in the lobby of 2230 Dix Avenue in Far Rockaway, Queens. The victim, whose identity is being withheld at this time, died of his injuries at St. John’s Hospital. Police from the 101st Precinct said a Black man standing 5 feet, 7 inches tall, wearing white clothing, shorts, and having dreads, is being sought.
There were also reported shots fired at several hot-spot locations in Brooklyn, but no reported people shot. A strong effort by local anti-violence organizations is credited with reducing violence in Brooklyn, a borough with most of the shootings and violence in recent months.
