Two people were killed and at least 12 more were injured in 11 separate shooting and stabbing incidents in a night of bloodshed in New York City on Sunday.
The incidents occurred across just six hours, and shortly after City Mayor Eric Adams vowed to the Big Apple’s citizens he would ‘turn this crime thing around’.
Spanning all five of NYC’s boroughs, the violence saw a 16-year-old shot in the head in a street brawl, a 74-year-old woman shot in the stomach while sitting on a park bench, and a 52-year-old man stabbed to death by his own brother.
The night of violence comes at a time when many of NYC’s residents are growing increasingly concerned with rising crime statistics.
While the number of murders and shootings in 2022 are to-date fewer than the number seen by this time last year, the New York Police Department’s statistics show that overall major crime has risen by more than 30 percent since 2021.
Just hours before the crime spree kicked off on Sunday NYC Mayor Adams, who ran his election campaign with a promise to crackdown on violent crime in city, said that a criminal-justice system-run-amok is to blame for the violence in NYC.
Pictured: A map showing the 11 different shooting and stabbing incidents on Sunday night, which saw two people killed and 12 injured
‘It is unfortunate the climate we’re working under … where the entire criminal-justice apparatus has turned away from the public and the rights of the public to live safe in their city,’ he said. ‘We took almost 3,800 guns off the streets, and many of the people who had carried those guns were able to return to the streets.’
He continued: ‘We’re witnessing a decrease in shootings, a decrease in homicides, but it’s more than that, it’s the robberies, the burglaries.
‘We’re going to turn this crime thing around, and when we do so, people are going to really see the progress we’ve made in other parts of the city,’ he added.
The incidents occurred across just six hours, shortly after the city’s mayor Eric Adams (pictured July 12) vowed to the Big Apple’s citizens he would ‘turn this crime thing around’
Soon after his radio appearance on Sunday, however, the violence began.
6.30 p.m., Queens: A 52-year-old man named Oscar Gutierrez was stabbed to death by his own brother, near Jamaica Avenue and Queens Boulevard.
Cops said the attack stemmed from an argument between the pair, with the suspect stabbing and slashing his brother in the chest several times in a second-floor hallway. Gutierrez was rushed to hospital, but was later pronounced dead.
Gutierrez lived in the building in which he was killed, New York Daily News reported, with police still trying to track down the suspect as of Sunday evening.
6:36 p.m., Brooklyn: Just six minutes later in Brooklyn, at 6:36 p.m., a 74-year-old woman – who was sitting on a bench at the Louis Heaton Pink Houses – was shot in the stomach.
The woman was sitting in the courtyard of the houses when she heard gunfire, police said, before feeling a bullet pierce her stomach. She was rushed to Brookdale Hospital and was reported to be in a stable condition.
Is is believed that she was an innocent bystander when she was struck.
7 p.m., Staten Island: Barely 30 minutes later on Staten Island, a woman suffered gunshot wounds. She walked herself into Richmond University Medical Centre on Sunday night.
8 p.m., Queens: An hour later at 8 p.m., a man was stabbed in Queen’s Flushing Meadows Corona Park, police said. His condition was unreported.
8.24 p.m., Brooklyn: Soon after, four people were shot in Brownsville, Brooklyn when a fight broke out near the Rockaway Avenue subway station, police said.
One person involved in the brawl opened fire, striking at 16-year-old boy in the head, and a second man in the stomach. Two others were grazed by bullets. The teen was rushed to Maimonides Hospital, where he is said to be in a critical condition.
8.45 p.m., The Bronx: The violence spanning the city continued when a 22-year-old woman who was walking her dog was hit by gunfire near Bristow Street and Jennings Street in The Bronx. The woman was struck in the leg, and is not likely to die.
According to PIX11, officials said she saw a white car driving north on Jennings, and that the shot might have come from the passing vehicle.
9 p.m., The Bronx: Minutes later and just a few blocks away, a 46-year-old mother and her 13-year-old daughter were both wounded in a shooting on Southern Boulevard, police said.
The pair were inside a convenience store when two men had an argument outside. Someone then opened fire, with bullets flying through the windows of the store – hitting the mother and her daughter.
Police said the teenage girl was hit in the hand, while her mother was grazed in the chest. Neither had life-threatening injuries, according to officials.
11 p.m., Harlem: A second person died on Sunday night, when a 34-year-old man was shot dead in Harlem near Malcolm X Boulevard and 115th Street, in what police believe to have been a hang-related incident, the New York Post reported.
11:15 p.m., Brooklyn: Another man was shot – this time on New York Avenue in Brooklyn’s Little Haiti. He was struck in the leg.
11.30 p.m., Harlem: A second man was shot in Harlem. His condition is unknown.
12.20 a.m., Manhattan: The eleventh incident of the night saw a victim shot in Manhattan at 12.20 a.m. on Monday, near West 22nd Street and Sixth Avenue.
The assailant fled the scene in a white SUV. Sources said the victim was alert and conscious after being shot, according to the New York Post.
NYPD’s latest figures comparing June 2022 to June 2021 show that shootings and homicides were down 24.2 percent and 31.6 percent respectively.
However, mayor Adams acknowledged to WBLS that ‘predatory crimes’ – crimes such as robberies and burglaries – still need to be addressed.
Overall crimes in New York City have risen by 37.66 percent, figures show.
Adams said: ‘Public safety and justice are prerequisites for prosperity. If you’re not safe you really can’t thrive. Public safety is crucial. Crime has really taken all of the oxygen out of the room.’