Mott Haven, Bronx (WABC) — Police have identified a suspect in two shootings in the Bronx on Thursday that left a 71-year-old man dead.
Enriqueta Rivera, 71, was crossing the street with her back turned when gunfire erupted at the corner of East 139th Street and Brooke Avenue just after 12:30 p.m. A bullet struck her in the back, just below her right shoulder, and pierced her heart.
She died in hospital.
Another bullet struck a nearby vendor, Albertina Reyes, 34, in the left arm as she stood with a friend. She was taken to the same hospital and is not expected to be injured.
“Two men got into an argument. One of the men pulled out a firearm and fired several shots at the other man,” the assistant said. NYPD Bronx Patrol Chief Benjamin Gurley spoke about the incident. “Those bullets hit two innocent people standing in the street.”
Another 40 police officers were deployed to the Mott Haven neighborhood in response to the shooting, along with others from the area who appeared to have gang ties.
Increased “Mobile Field Units,” the NYPD’s Critical Response Command Team and more officers assigned to subways to be ready if crime spills onto the transit system.
The latest gang violence appears to involve rival residents of the Mitchell and Mott Haven residences, with most of the suspects being suspected gang members in their teens and 20s. The motivation appears to be nothing more than longstanding differences passed down from generation to generation.
A 38-year-old woman was standing outside the Mott Haven Houses at 383 E. 143rd Street just after 7 p.m. Wednesday with a scratch on her arm.
“Most of it is history. Territory, all kinds of things. Just groups not getting along,” Gurley said.
Separately, three men were shot at E. 174th Street and Jerome Avenue in the Mt. Hope area around 7:40 p.m. Thursday.
A 29-year-old man was shot in the ankle and a 67-year-old man was shot in the arm. They were all taken to St. Barnabas, where they were expected to survive. Police sources said both victims were innocent bystanders.
The third victim, a 24-year-old man, walked into St. Barnabas with multiple gunshot wounds throughout his body. He is expected to survive. It was unclear whether he was the intended target of the shooting.
Police are flooding the community with resources in hopes of quelling the violence, but the community is fed up.
“This is our community, we own this community, and we cannot allow this to continue to happen,” Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said.
An eight-year-old boy was shot in the right thigh after getting off a nearby school bus in one of the shootings, but it is not believed to be directly related to the shootings on Wednesday and Thursday. .
In that shooting, 27-year-old Joshua Brooks was quickly arrested. The police have found images of the second suspect from surveillance and are actively looking for him.
Shootings in the 40th Precinct are actually down significantly compared with a year ago, but residents say a spate of recent violence has undermined a sense of safety.
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