NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Gunfire erupted in Brooklyn and the Bronx overnight Friday, hours after Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea announced a new plan to tackle a spike in shootings in the city and as marchers took to the streets demanding an end to the violence.
The shootings included three in the Bronx and a fourth in Brooklyn. All of the victims, men ranging in age from 17 to 53, suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to police.
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A 25-year-old man was shot in the leg at E. 187 Street and Tiebout Avenue in the Fordham Heights section of the Bronx around 11:40 p.m. Police said three men were seen fleeing the scene.
Minutes later, near Edenwald and Monticello avenues in the Wakefield section of the Bronx, a 17-year-old boy was shot in the right leg. He was in stable condition.
Then around 1:17 a.m. in Bedford-Stuyvesant, a 53-year-old man was shot in the left shoulder at Saratoga Avenue and Chauncey Street. Police said the shots may have come from a black GMC.
And just after 2:30 a.m. in the Belmont section of the Bronx, a 35-year-old man was shot in the leg at E. 188th Street and Hughes Avenue. Police said the victim was being uncooperative with detectives.
On Friday, de Blasio and Shea announced an "End Gun Violence Plan" that would put resources wherever they were needed while focusing on particular sites in the city "where we're seeing an uptick in violence."
"We will combine the presence of police, particularly foot patrols, with community grassroots efforts," the mayor said.
Shea said the boroughs have seen "a sharp uptick in gun violence" but that police were "incredibly focused on pushing back on the recent violence that we've seen throughout New York City."
The commissioner said the biggest upticks have been in parts of the Bronx and Brooklyn but that other areas, such as Harlem and South Jamaica, had also seen spikes. He said a lot of the violence was "very much localized in certain neighborhoods and even certain blocks."
"We are moving all available resources to those areas," the commissioner said. "You'll see increased foot patrols, as well as officers in uniform in marked police cars. We'll also be overlaying that with increased technology, everything from cameras that are mobile to license plate readers and everything in between."
On Saturday, marchers took to the streets of Bedford-Stuyvesant to demand an end to the violence. Among them were activists and families impacted, including the family of 1-year-old Davell Gardner, who was killed this past week.
De Blasio addressed the crowd Saturday, saying residents can take back their streets together.
"We make an impact. We stand together, it changes things," the mayor said. "This is a community claiming ownership over its own streets."
Many marchers said the mayor's new plan was good but that the city can't simply police itself out of the situation.
"This is a problem that we have to solve ourselves," one activist said. "You know, we have more credibility with these individuals who are engaging in this reckless and selfish lifestyle. You can't pour police into a problem like this."
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams said the police are important in addition to the community's efforts.
"The missing piece—I will continue to say—policing can't be predictable," Adams said. "Right now it is. Bad guys, you know, 'If you don't see a blue and white, don't worry about the police.'"
