New York governor's aide is latest victim of gun crime after being struck by errant bullet during gang shootout at West Indian gala in Brooklyn
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Version 0 of 1. In a harsh reminder that in New York summer street revelry and bloodshed are frequently intertwined, a top aide to the Governor of the state, Andrew Cuomo, is on life support after being struck by an errant bullet before the start of the annual West Indian American Day celebrations in Brooklyn. Police said that Carey Gabay, 43, was shot while attending traditional pre-parade celebrations in the early hours of Monday when gunfire rang out. Even though Mr Gabay, who was with a brother and friends, dived beneath a parked car for cover he took a bullet in the head. The incident came as in New York, in common with many other big American cities, there has been an increase in murder rates reversing several years of decline. Officials said that Mr Gabay, whose condition is critical, appears to have stumbled into crossfire between feuding gangs. “He was caught in gunfire that he had nothing to do with. And there is nothing we can do, nothing the doctors can do, but pray,” Governor Cuomo said before marching in the parade on Monday. Even before Mr Gabay was shot, anther man was fatally stabbed nearby and a third man was shot in the buttocks and taken to hospital. No arrests have been made in connection to any of the cases. The parade has also been marred by violence in past years. Governor Cuomo at the parade on Monday; he described his frustration (Reuters) Mr Gabay studied law at Harvard University and is a deputy legal counsel to Governor Cuomo, who said that while the constitutional right to own guns should be upheld, the shooting underscored the urgent need for tougher controls. While New York has some of the toughest strictures on gun purchasers in the country, it can do little to stop them flooding in from other states where rules are more lax. “Anybody who doesn’t believe we need to do something about gun control is delusional,” Mr Cuomo said. “We can protect the second amendment and legitimate gun owners, but we also need to protect people. How many young innocent people have to die before this nation comes to its senses? And this is a terrible, terrible, painful loss.” The Mayor Bill de Blasio also lamented the incident. “A good young man right now is clinging to life because of senseless gun violence,” he said. “We can’t keep losing young men.” In a memoir released this week, Ray Kelly, who served as police chief for the former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, blamed Mr de Blasio for rising violence in New York and lambasted him for curbing the practice of “stop and frisk” by officers. “De Blasio walked away from a useful policing tool, snatching law enforcement defeat from the jaws of legal victory,” Mr Kelly wrote in Vigilance: My Life Serving America and Protecting Its Empire City. Ending stop and frisk, which had been condemned by civil rights groups as unfairly targeting minorities, was at the heart of Mr de Blasio’s election platform. So far this year there has been an 8 per cent rise in murders in New York compared to the same period last year. Baltimore, Washington DC, Milwaukee and New Orleans are among scores of big cities that are also reporting increases in murder rates. Mr Cuomo spoke after visiting Mr Gabay in hospital. “I was just with the family, and the tears and the frustration,” he said. “And I’m Governor of the state of New York. And there’s nothing I can say and there’s nothing I can do. And sometimes it just hurts.” |