Police have arrested a 25-year-old man in connection to a triple shooting in the Bronx that left one person dead and two others, both of them believed to be innocent bystanders, hospitalized, authorities said Tuesday.
Gunfire erupted shortly before 1 a.m. at a store on East Burnside Avenue after cops say the suspect argued with one of the victims, then left -- only to return with a gun.
According to police, the suspect then entered the business and shot a 31-year-old man in the head and torso, killing him before fleeing the scene.
The preliminary investigation, police say, suggests that the other two victims who survived are believed to be innocent bystanders. They were taken to Saint Barnabas Hospital.
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One of the surviving victims, a 34-year-old woman, is in critical condition after being shot in the torso, while the other victim, a 34-year-old man shot in the arm, is in stable condition, police say.
A friend of the woman in critical condition spoke with News 4 New York saying she believes crime in the borough is getting worse -- faster than any other borough.
"I feel like no one cares about us out here no more," Jolanda Richards said. "I feel like you can't get nothing out here. No protection. No services. No nothing. It's just like we are invincible to the world now and it's the most crimes happening in the Bronx right now. You don't even want to come out of your house."
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Police have arrested Edison Cruz, from the Bronx, on charges of murder, manslaughter, and criminal possession of a weapon in connection to the shooting. Attorney information for Cruz was not immediately available.
Cruz has a lengthy rap sheet, and was previously arrested in June 2020 after allegedly walking down the street with a flamethrower and wearing a ballistic vest, a senior law enforcement official said. Later that year, he was arrested again after throwing something at his mother's head, and police found he had an ax, a loaded ghost gun, multiple gun parts and another ballistics vest, according to the law enforcement official.
His arsenal also included an incendiary projectile launcher, a ballistic vest, a shotgun, and two Polymer 80 lower handgun receivers, and he was later found to have a completed version of that handgun in a subsequent arrest, a senior law enforcement official said. Cruz did not face any significant jail time, and made bail for his previous alleged offenses.
