gun violence

NYPD to Add More Patrols to Curb Gun Violence; At Least 2 Dozen Shot This Weekend

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The NYPD will add more patrols on the weekends when the majority of gun violence spikes have occurred, officials confirmed Sunday.

Over the last month, the NYPD says 44% of shootings across the city have happened on Saturdays and Sundays and this weekend was no different. A 25-year-old mother to three children gunned down in the Bronx was one of eight people killed in New York City between Friday and Sunday morning, according to reports from the NYPD.

Priscilla Vasquez is one of latest victims of gun violence in New York City that has ripped parents, relatives and even children away from families. The mother was gunned down just before 5:30 a.m. on East 152nd Street, around the corner from where she lived in the Melrose section of the Bronx.

The NYPD released surveillance video of the suspect they believe responsible for Vasquez's death. In the video, a person dressed in all black wearing a white mask is visible. Any further suspect description or possible motive has not released.

A memorial has grown outside of the school where she was found Saturday, flowers and candles laid in honor of the young mother.

The death of Priscilla Vasquez is at the center of another bloody weekend across the five boroughs. Homicide detectives are investigating an additional seven deaths between 12 a.m. Friday and Sunday morning.

Local leaders are saying "enough is enough" as eight more people died in New York City violence since Friday. Adam Harding reports.

The latest death was reported by the NYPD late Sunday night in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn. A 43-year-old man was shot in the chest around 10:30 p.m., according to police. The man later died at the hospital.

Earlier Sunday in Queens Village, police said a 34-year-old man was found unconscious and unresponsive with a gunshot wound around 7 a.m. He was rushed to Franklin Hospital where he later died, they said.

In Brooklyn, four men were shot in Coney Island Sunday morning, around 2 a.m. on West 23rd Street, police said. The youngest victim, a 27-year-old man, was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. The three other victims, ages 35, 36 and 41, were all taken to hospitals with serious injuries.

A deadly shooting occurred in Coney Island in the middle of the afternoon just one day prior. Police said 20-year-old Fabian Abney was shot and killed just before 2 p.m. Saturday at West 25th Street.

Several hours later, in Hell's Kitchen, a 49-year-old man was stabbed to death. Responding police officers arrived at West 38th Street and 9th Avenue around 9:15 p.m. Saturday to find EMS already providing aid to the victim. He had multiple stab wounds to his neck, chest and stomach. The injuries proved to severe and the men later died at a nearby hospital, the NYPD said.

In Queens, a man was shot and killed playing basketball just before 8 p.m. Saturday. The NYPD said the shooting occurred near 207th Street and Hillside Avenue. 33-year-old Leonard Carlisle was shot in the head and later died at Queens General Hospital, police said.

In addition to the six deaths between Saturday and Sunday, the NYPD has two ongoing homicide investigations from Friday, according to preliminary data. Each of the victims was shot in the early morning hours.

The NYPD said 60-year-old Luis Rodriguez was shot and killed around 2 a.m. in the Bronx. Two other victims, ages 36 and 54, were also shot but expected to survive. Just two hours later, a 44-year-old man was shot in the back of the head and pronounced dead at Saint Barnabas Hospital.

The recent wave of shootings bled into the weekend, with at more than two dozen people shot according to NYPD reports. 13 people were injured in Friday shootings and another 12 hurt by Saturday afternoon. The department has not yet released cumulative data for Saturday night and Sunday morning.

An Uber driver was shot in Coney Island around 10:45 p.m. Friday after exchanging words with someone on a bike, police said. The driver was shot in the torso but was able to drive away a short distance to police. EMS were called and transported the 30-year-old driver to a nearby hospital.

Two other men were shot in Brooklyn, police said. The pair in their late 20s were injured when an unidentified person drove up and fired shots along Park Avenue in Bed-Stuy. Both men were taken to Kings County Hospital and were expected to survive.

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams says there has been 40 victims of gun violence since Thursday. He's calling for a comprehensive plan to stop the summer spike in shootings.

"I'm not seeing the level of urgency that should be associated with this level of violence," Adams said. "Bullets don't discriminate when they leave the barrel of a gun. They hit innocent people as well as those who are intended to be shot."

NYPD investigate shooting of 18 year old in Harlem
News 4
NYPD officers investigate the shooting of an 18 year old in Harlem.

At 1 a.m. near W 120th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd, police responded to the shooting of a 18-year-old woman with gunshot wounds in each of her legs. She was taken to Harlem Hospital and is expected to survive.

Police say the suspected gunman fled in a black sedan.

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