It was around 10:40 p.m. Saturday when two men opened fire near the corner of 98th Street and 37th Ave. After the shooting, they jumped aboard two waiting mopeds driven by two other men and took off.
“There’s just one common theme, I want to get out there, that’s a recurring theme that keeps happening, and it has to stop throughout the city. That’s gang members. That’s guns, multiple guns on the scene, scooters being used, masks. And lastly, unintended targets getting hit. This is unacceptable on our streets in New York City, and it has to stop,” said Chief of Detectives James Essig, NYPD.
NYPD holds press conference on shooting
Multiple rounds were fired, hitting 10 people including eight men and two women.
The victims range in age from 19 to 72.
They were all taken to nearby hospitals where they are expected to survive. The most serious injury was a gunshot wound to one victim’s stomach.
Police say that just three of the 10 injured people were the intended targets of the shooting. There was a birthday party going on at a nearby restaurant and the sidewalk was crowded.
“Two guys just stick their arms out down a very crowded street,” Essig said. He noted they recovered at least 40 shell casings and deformed bullets at the scene.
The NYPD said the shooting was gang-involved.
“They know the area that’s why they were wearing masks,” said Chief of Patrol Juanita Holmes, NYPD.
“Cameras don’t take the place of police officers,” Holmes said in her plea for more officers on the street, but she reinforced that they need the public’s help.
Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
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