Mott Haven, Bronx (WABC) — Six people were shot during 24 hours of violence in the Bronx, half of whom were not the intended targets.
One of the victims was a 71-year-old woman who was shot in the back while trying to cross the street.
Gunfire erupted at the corner of East 139th Street and Brooke Avenue in the Mott Harbor neighborhood just after 12:30 a.m. Thursday.
Police were surprised by the brazenness – a brawl between rival gang members in broad daylight showed a complete disregard for humanity.
“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. said Chief Benjamin Gurley of the NYPD’s Bronx Patrol Bureau. “Those bullets hit two innocent people standing in the street.”
One of them, 71-year-old Enriqueta Rivera, waited to cross the street with her back turned to gunfire. She was shot in the back and collapsed.
A nurse initially ran for cover but then tried to render aid but she died in hospital.
Another bullet struck a 34-year-old woman in the left arm. She was standing with her friend when the shooting happened. She was taken to the same hospital and is in stable condition.
This is the third incident in as many days in which innocent bystanders have been injured in crossfire in the New York City Police Department’s 40th Precinct. The incidents involved four victims, ranging in age from 8 to 71, who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
On Tuesday, an 8-year-old boy was shot in the thigh. He had just gotten off the school bus and was waiting to cross the street with his grandmother on Beekman Avenue.
The boy is in stable condition and two people have been arrested in connection with the shooting.
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.
Police believe at least two of the cases involved the same two gangs, who were fighting each other.
“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. Police are investigating 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.
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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