Detectives in the Bronx are investigating a shooting Monday morning that left one woman fighting for her life and two other victims injured.
The incident capped an active period between Sunday night and Monday morning in New York in which five others were injured in separate shootings.
The Bronx shooting happened at 7:30 a.m. on Oct. 19 inside a Chinese food restaurant at 2647 Jerome Ave. in Fordham Heights, just around the corner from the Kingsbridge Armory.
Officers from the 52nd Precinct and EMS units found the victims while responding to a 911 call. A female victim was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital in very critical condition. Two others were also hospitalized, though their condition was not immediately known.
Detectives are now searching for a suspect in the shooting, whom they described as a Hispanic man with a light complexion, standing 5 feet, 5 inches tall, who was last seen wearing a yellow jacket and blue jeans. He apparently fled the scene in a gray Acura.
As for the earlier shootings, the first happened in Manhattan at about 6:30 p.m. Sunday, when a man was shot in the neck at the 14th Street station on the 1/2/3 lines in Chelsea.
The victim brought himself to Lenox Health Greenwich Village for treatment after the shooting. Law enforcement sources, however, did not have information about why the victim was shot, or a description of the perpetrator. No arrests have been made.
Shortly thereafter, in Brooklyn, a man was shot in the abdomen in front of an apartment building on Gates Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant at about 7 p.m. on Oct. 18.
Law enforcement sources said the victim was embroiled in a dispute when the unidentified gunman pulled out a firearm and started firing. Six shots were fired in all, one of which struck the victim in the lower abdomen.
The victim collapsed in front of the Gourmet Deli at the corner of Gates Avenue and Marcus Garvey Boulevard.
Officers from the 79th Precinct learned that the victim had been taken by private means to Woodhull Hospital. Six spent rounds were found on the ground in front of an apartment building where the dispute apparently began.
A neighbor identified only as Maranda, said the victim was her next door neighbor.
“I wasn’t outside to see what happened, but its really just stupidity, I don’t know why it happened, but his grandmother will be very upset – I hope he’s alright, she took on all of them after the mother died,” Maranda said. “The gang stuff around here has gotten out of control, but I’m not sure what he’s into.”
Another shooting occurred at 7 p.m. Sunday night, when a 42-year-old man was shot three times in the legs and buttocks at the corner of East 166th Street and Boston Road in the Morrisania section of the Bronx.
Cops from the 42nd Precinct learned that the victim had been driven to Lincoln Hospital where he was listed in stable condition.
There was no description given on the suspect or any motive for this shooting.
At 1:11 a.m. on Monday morning, a 34-year-old man was shot in the right leg in front of 108-22 Union Hall Street in Jamaica, Queens. Officers from the 103rd Precinct said the victim told them he heard shots and felt pain, though he was said to be “uncooperative.”
He was taken to Jamaica Hospital in stable condition.
Then at 5:30 a.m. Monday, officers from the 114th Precinct discovered that a 21-year-old man was shot in the head in the vicinity of 25th Road and 18th Street in Astoria. Paramedics rushed him to Mount Sinai Queens Hospital in critical condition.
Investigators now believe the wound may have been “an accidental discharge,” though detectives are talking to witnesses at this time.
There were reports of shots fired in every borough last night, some of them reported by ShotSpotter activations, though sometimes the alarms pick up fireworks or vehicle backfires. In some of the cases though, spent shells were found over night.
Anyone with information regarding any of these shootings can call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS (for Spanish, dial 888-57-PISTA). You can also submit tips online at nypdcrimestoppers.com, or on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
Police make arrest in homicide
Detectives arrested a 20-year-old man Sunday in connection with the shooting death of a 22-year-old man in Brownsville earlier that morning.
Officers from the 73rd Precinct said Benjamin Rovert, 20, of Avenue N in Canarsie, was charged for the shooting death of Luis Caballero, 22, of Montgomery Street in Crown Heights just after midnight Sunday near the corner of Watkins Street and Livonia Avenue, in front of Allah School in Medina, in Brownsville, Brooklyn.
Caballero was hit in the torso, arm and leg and was rushed to Brookdale Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Rovert was nabbed near the scene of the shooting by cops who were on alert in that area. A gun was also recovered, said to be the alleged murder weapon. He was being charged with murder and possession of a loaded firearm.
With reporting by Robert Pozarycki
