The city took a breather from ongoing gunfire overnight as there were no people shot citywide – not reported since the beginning of July when a rainy evening kept gunmen at bay.
Other than that single day, there had not been a single day where nobody was shot since May.
There were 242 shootings in New York City in August, more than twice as many as in August 2019. There are now well over 1,000 shootings across the five boroughs, according to police statistics.
President Donald Trump has also seized on the shootings, naming New York City an “anarchist city,” along with Portland and Seattle. Former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has railed against the city’s administration for the high crime rate, but his own crime rate was much higher when he was mayor.
Since the beginning of May, shootings are up 140 percent, and murders up more than 50 percent over the year before.
While nobody was shot overnight, there were reports of shots fired in several parts of the city, some set off by ShotSpotter activations designed to detect gunfire. However, some of those incidents have been found to be car backfires or fireworks though officials say ShotSpotter has become a valuable tool in helping police respond more rapidly to shooting incidents.
In the meantime, the lull in the gunfire has allowed police to concentrate on solving some of the shootings and making arrests. Commissioner Dermot Shea said recently that numerous gun arrests have been made. Most recently, police in the 63rd Precinct broke up a group in Flatlands after a several hour stand-off set off by gunfire in the streets. Several guns were recovered at that scene last week.
Police seeking information on shooting
The NYPD is seeking several men wanted in connection with the shooting of a man in the Bronx on Monday night, Sept. 21.
Police say at about 7:20 p.m. three men began shooting at another man inside a car dealership at 4077 Boston Road in Eastchester, the Bronx. The man then exchanged gunfire with the three men, and a 39-year-old bystander was struck in the right thigh while attempting to shield his three children who were sitting inside the dealership where they were seeking to purchase a vehicle.
The victim was rushed by EMS to Jacobi Hospital in stable condition. The children were unharmed by the gunfire.
Police provided surveillance video from the incident location at the time of the shooting.
Shooting suspect sought
The NYPD is seeking the public’s assistance identifying an assailant from surveillance photos who is wanted for questioning in connection with a shooting that occurred on Aug. 24 in the Bronx.
Police from the 44th Precinct said that on that day at 3:11 p.m., a 21-year-old man was shot in the leg at the intersection of University Avenue and 167 Street in Highbridge, the Bronx. The gunmen then fled in a black sedan.
The victim was taken to Lincoln Hospital in stable condition. There were no other injuries reported as a result of this incident.
Police provided photos from a video taken from the scene.
Anyone with information in regard to this or any other shooting 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 CrimeStoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, or on Twitter @NYPDTips or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential.
