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1-Year-Old Is Shot and Killed at Brooklyn Cookout 1-Year-Old Is Shot and Killed at Brooklyn Cookout
(about 4 hours later)
A 1-year-old baby boy was killed and three men were wounded on Sunday night when two gunmen opened fire on people at a cookout in a Brooklyn park, the latest casualty in a summer of spiraling gun violence in New York, the police said. A 1-year-old baby boy was killed and three men were wounded on Sunday night when two gunmen opened fire on people at a cookout in a Brooklyn park, one of the latest casualties in a summer of rising gun violence in New York, the police said.
“This is so painful,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Monday at a news briefing. “It’s not something we can ever look away from.”“This is so painful,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Monday at a news briefing. “It’s not something we can ever look away from.”
The baby, Davell Gardner, was in his stroller when the shooting broke out at about 11:30 p.m. near the Raymond Bush Playground in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, the police said. The baby, Davell Gardner Jr., was in his stroller when the shooting broke out at about 11:30 p.m. near the Raymond Bush Playground in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, the police said.
Two gunmen, dressed all in black, approached the group, fired and fled, the police said. Davell was hit in the abdomen and later died at a local hospital, the police said.Two gunmen, dressed all in black, approached the group, fired and fled, the police said. Davell was hit in the abdomen and later died at a local hospital, the police said.
Bullets also struck a 25-year-old man in the ankle, a 36-year-old man in the leg and a 27-year-old man in the groin. All were taken to hospitals and were expected to survive, the police said. Bullets also struck a 25-year-old man in the ankle, a 36-year-old man in the leg and a 27-year-old man in the groin. The three men, who have not been identified, were taken to hospitals and were expected to survive, the police said.
“These are the very real people affected by senseless gun violence,” Police Commissioner Dermot F. Shea said on Twitter on Monday.“These are the very real people affected by senseless gun violence,” Police Commissioner Dermot F. Shea said on Twitter on Monday.
Davell’s death capped another weekend of gun violence in New York City, where shootings in June and July have risen sharply compared to the same period last year.Davell’s death capped another weekend of gun violence in New York City, where shootings in June and July have risen sharply compared to the same period last year.
As of July 5, there had been 585 shootings, compared to 381 the year before. If current trends hold, the city is on pace to cross 800 shootings for the year. It would be the first time in three years that the city had reached that number. As of July 12, there had been 634 shootings, compared to 394 the year before. If current trends hold, the city is on pace to cross 800 shootings for the year. It would be the first time in three years that the city had reached that number.
Chief Jeffrey Maddrey, who oversaw the Brooklyn North patrol borough before being promoted to lead the New York Police Department’s Community Affairs bureau, appealed for an end to the violence on Monday morning, in a Twitter message, saying, “This. Must. STOP!” In June, 28 people died from gunshot wounds, the police said. The trend continued in early July, with 19 more people fatally shot through July 12.
Mr. de Blasio said on Monday, as he previously has, that he believed the rise in shootings this year was fueled primarily by the “horrible dislocation” caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which ravaged the city’s economy and upended its courts and jails. The spike in shootings has come as city residents and officials engage in a fierce debate over the future of policing, a discussion prompted by large-scale demonstrations over police brutality and systemic racism in the criminal justice system.
For weeks, protesters angered by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and other officer-involved shootings have taken to city streets, calling for sweeping reforms to policing.
Last month, New York State banned chokeholds and repealed a law that kept police disciplinary records secret. City officials, responding to calls to defund the police, agreed in principle to shift roughly $1 billion from the Police Department to other agencies.
Senior police officials and leaders of the city’s police unions argued against such moves, saying that they would hobble the department’s ability to deter violent crimes, especially in the middle of a rise in shootings.
Experts on crime say the spike in shootings, which has affected several American cities, is an annual summer occurrence that has been made more acute this year by the strain of the pandemic on the economy and on living conditions.
But senior police officials, including the police commissioner, have tried to draw a connection between the shootings and a range of changes in the criminal justice system — from delays in the court system caused by the virus, to recent measures intended to reduce the jail population.
Crime data provided by the police, however, has not shown a strong connection between the violence and these factors. Chief Michael LiPetri, the police chief in charge of crime statistics, for instance, said in an interview with the New York Daily News that just seven out of 2,100 people released from jail with pending gun charges have been linked to shootings.
Elected officials and advocates for changing the role of the police have also repeatedly pushed back against the police’s arguments, noting that one factor in the rise in violence may be that the majority of shootings go unsolved.
On Monday, Mayor de Blasio again said that he believed the rise in shootings was fueled by the “horrible dislocation” caused by the pandemic, which ravaged the city’s economy and upended its courts and jails.
“The N.Y.P.D. has been overloaded in so many ways and it just keeps adding up,” Mr. de Blasio said. “And most importantly, the criminal justice system is not functioning yet.”“The N.Y.P.D. has been overloaded in so many ways and it just keeps adding up,” Mr. de Blasio said. “And most importantly, the criminal justice system is not functioning yet.”
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from the Bronx, where shootings have risen this year, has also linked the increased violence to the collapse of the local economy and high unemployment.
“Poverty and crime are highly linked, both violent & nonviolent alike,” she said on Twitter on Monday.
Though murders and shootings have risen, reports of other four other crimes — rape, robbery, felony assault and grand larceny — are either flat or sharply down so far this year. Burglaries and car thefts, meanwhile, have surged during the pandemic, as thieves have targeted empty restaurants and unattended vehicles.
It is the wave of shootings, however, that has generated angst and debate among elected officials and police leaders.
Chief Jeffrey Maddrey, who oversaw the Brooklyn North patrol borough before being promoted to lead the New York Police Department’s Community Affairs bureau, appealed for an end to the violence on Monday morning, in a Twitter message, saying, “This. Must. STOP!”
As of Monday morning, the police had not yet made any arrests in Sunday night’s shooting.
In separate shootings on Sunday night, two boys, aged 12 and 15, were among others wounded in the city over the weekend.In separate shootings on Sunday night, two boys, aged 12 and 15, were among others wounded in the city over the weekend.
The 15-year-old was hit in the wrist at 9:10 p.m. on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard near 143rd Street in Manhattan, the police said, confirming a report from the New York Post.The 15-year-old was hit in the wrist at 9:10 p.m. on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard near 143rd Street in Manhattan, the police said, confirming a report from the New York Post.
The 12-year-old was shot in the leg at about 9:10 p.m. on Prospect Place near Ralph Avenue in the Crown Heights neighborhood in Brooklyn, the police said.The 12-year-old was shot in the leg at about 9:10 p.m. on Prospect Place near Ralph Avenue in the Crown Heights neighborhood in Brooklyn, the police said.
Michael Gold contributed reporting. Ali Watkins contributed reporting.