NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Nearly 30 alleged gang members have been arrested and charged with “terrorizing” residents of two NYCHA complexes in Queens by carrying out a spate of gang warfare-fueled shootings, prosecutors say.
A grand jury indicted 28 alleged members of the Jet Blue, Makk Ballers and Money the Motivation/Obligated to Money gangs on Thursday, the Queens County District Attorney’s Office said in a press release.
The reputed Jet Blue and Makk Ballers gang members operated out of the Queensbridge Houses in Long Island City, while the alleged MTM/OTM members operated in and around the Ravenswood Houses in Astoria, the DA’s office said.
“Gang warfare will not become the norm in Queens County,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement. “My office is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to make certain no community should live and be terrorized by violent gang members who demonstrate a complete lack of regard for human life.”
Prosecutors say the three rival gangs’ members regularly targeted one another for years, carrying out broad-daylight shootings with bystanders nearby in an effort to “assert their dominance” within the two NYCHA complexes.
One of the rivalries resulted in the death of George Rosa, a 53-year-old teacher who was fatally shot while he was walking his dog near the Queensbridge Houses last July, according to prosecutors.
Two gang members from the Ravenswood Houses were shooting at a Queensbridge rival when they accidentally hit Rosa, prosecutors said.
Seven other people were also struck by bullets in various gang-related shootouts around the two complexes, including a reputed Makk Baller gang member, Magdy Saleh, who was fatally shot last August, the DA’s office said.
The 28 alleged gang members range in age from 18 to 35, according to the DA’s office.
While only some of them face murder, attempted murder and attempted assault charges, all of them have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder, as well as possession of illegal firearms.