Violent day in the Bronx leaves 6 shot, 1 dead
MOTT HAVEN, The Bronx (WABC) -- A violent 24 hours in the Bronx left a total of six people shot, and half of those victims were not the intended targets.
One of the victims, a 71-year-old woman, was fatally shot in the back while trying to cross the street.
Gunfire erupted after 12:30 p.m. Thursday at the corner of E. 139th Street and Brook Avenue in the Mott Haven section.
Police marveled at the brazenness - the outright disregard for humanity at the center of a beef between members of rival gangs in broad daylight.
"Two males got into a dispute. One of the males pulled out a firearm and fired multiple shots at the other," Asst. Chief Benjamin Gurley of the NYPD Patrol Bureau Bronx said. "Those bullets struck two innocent people standing out on the street."
One of them was a 71-year-old Enriqueta Rivera, who was waiting to cross the street with her back turned to the gunfire. She fell with a bullet in her back.
A nurse ran for cover at first, but then tried to render aid but she died at the hospital.
Another bullet hit a 34-year-old woman in the left arm. She had been standing with her friend when the shooting started. She was taken to the same hospital, where she is in stable condition.
It's the third incident in as many days in the NYPD's 40th Precinct where innocent bystanders have been caught in the crossfire. Those incidents involved four victims, ranging in age from 8 to 71, who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
An 8-year-old boy was shot in the thigh on Tuesday. He had just gotten off the school bus and was with his grandmother, waiting to cross the street on Beekman Avenue.
The boy is stable condition, and two people were arrested in connection to the shooting.
On Wednesday, a 38-year-old woman was grazed in the arm while standing outside the Mott Haven Houses located at 383 E. 143rd Street just after 7 p.m.
Cops believe at least two of the cases involve the same two gangs, fighting over who knows what.
"Historical beef for the most part. Territory, various things. Just groups not getting along," Gurley said.
Separately on Thursday, three men were struck by gunfire at E. 174th Street and Jerome Avenue in the Mt. Hope section around 7:40 p.m.
A 29-year-old man was shot once in the ankle, and a 67-year-old man was shot once in the arm. They were both taken to St. Barnabas where they are expected to survive. Police sources say both of those victims were innocent bystanders.
A third victim, a 24-year-old man, walked into St. Barnabas with numerous gunshot wounds throughout the body. He's expected to survive. Police are investigating whether he was the intended target of the shooting.
Police are flooding the neighborhood with resources, hoping to cool off the violence but the neighborhood is getting fed up.
"This is our community, we own this community, we cannot allow this to continue to happen," Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said.
Shootings in the 40th Precinct are actually down dramatically compared to a year ago, but residents say the recent spate of violence undercuts any sense of safety.
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