Three people are dead, eight others were wounded in overnight shootings in Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx, police officials said.
The shootings come as community outrage grows over the number of people being shot throughout the city as gun violence seems to continue unabated.
The NYPD has been combining with federal law enforcement of late to try to break local gangs who are responsible for many of the recent shootings. But Commissioner Dermot Shea has said many of those being arrested for possessing firearms are still out on the street because the courts have not caught up with their cases.
Two of the homicides overnight were in the Bronx and one was at an outdoor seating area for a McDonald’s in Downtown Brooklyn in front of numerous witnesses who were running for cover as two men engaged in a gun battle.
The first of these homicides was at 10:28 p.m. at the McDonald’s Restaurant at Flatbush Avenue and Fulton Street when two men apparently became embroiled in a violent dispute inside the restaurant, police from the 88th Precinct said.
The dispute spilled into the street with both men pulling handguns and firing at each other at short range. A 23-year-old man was hit in the shoulder and the back of the head. He was rushed by EMS to New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, but he could not be saved.
Police swarmed the area in search of the shooter, a pool of blood in the middle of Flatbush Avenue with chairs and a soda cup marking the carnage. No description of the suspect has yet been provided.
“I can’t believe what just happened here, I’ve never seen anything like that over here,” one witness said.
The other two homicides occurred blocks from each other in the Bronx only hours apart.
The first fatal shooting occurred at 2:05 a.m. in front of 735 East 179th Street in Crotona, the Bronx. Police say they found three people, a 60-year-old man with a gunshot wound to the torso and the second, a 36-year-old man shot to the buttocks and a third 54-year-old man shot in the right arm and buttocks.
The three victims were rushed by EMS to St. Barnabas Hospital where the 60-year-old man could not be saved while the other two men were in stable condition. Police from the 48th Precinct did not yet provide any details of the attacker.
The third fatal shooting occurred only blocks away at 4:21 a.m. in front of 4235 Park Avenue where police from the 48th Precinct were told a 44-year-old man had been shot in the head. He was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital in a private vehicle, but he was pronounced dead on arrival. Cops did not provide further information about this shooting.
There were also numerous reports of shots fired in the Bronx, Manhattan and Brooklyn, in which no reports were received of people shot.
Here is a rundown of the latest casualties in the ongoing shootings:
Aug. 21, 1:17 a.m. – A 52-year-old man was shot in the left arm and a female, age not given, was shot in the shoulder in front of 397 East 49th Street in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. Police from the 67th Precinct say a black four-door Audi sedan, possible temporary plates, was seen fleeing the scene after the shooting, with investigators believing the shooting was a drive-by assault.
The two victims were taken by EMS to Kings County Hospital where they are expected to survive their wounds.
Aug. 21, 1:55 a.m. – A 28-year-old man was shot in the chest and left arm while a female 22, was shot in the knee and back in front of 1210 Gilbert Place in Hunts Point, the Bronx. Police from the 41st Precinct say a black sedan was seen speeding from the scene, pointing to a possible drive-by attack.
The two victims were rushed to Lincoln Hospital, where they are expected to survive. No further information on this shooting was available.
Aug. 21, 3:29 a.m. – A 36-year-old man was shot in the right thigh by an unknown person in front of 402 Nostrand Avenue. Police from the 79th Precinct said the victim was rushed to Woodhull Hospital, where he is said to be “uncooperative.”
Police seeking witnesses
