gun violence

Teen Gunned Down by Group in Ski Masks During Bloody 24 Hours in NYC

At least nine people were shot in a 24-hour period over the weekend, according to NYPD data

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A teenager shot and killed on a Bronx block Sunday evening became the city's latest victim of gun violence, following a series of other weekend shootings in the borough that saw many more New Yorkers wounded.

Officers responding to calls of shots fired on Beekman Avenue found 17-year-old Jordany Mercedes bleeding out on the very block he calls home, NYPD officials said. A gunshot through the chest, puncturing the teen's lung, proved fatal, a senior official told News 4.

Neighbors told police at least two gunshots rang out around 6 p.m., but few came forward having witnessed the shooting with there own eyes.

“I was sitting down there when I heard the shots. I didn’t move cause I didn’t wanna get hurt - bullets don’t have no name. And then I just heard somebody screaming and yellin and everybody ran down the block," Celia Albergotti said.

Detectives were still searching for a motive at the conclusion of the weekend but believe the gun violence followed an argument between the 17-year-old and at least one other individual.

Video recovered by investigators appears to show a group of unidentified males gathered by an electrical box when Mercedes approaches from across the street, the senior official said. One member of the group walks over and meets the victim in the middle of the street where they appear to argue, according to the footage. Then Mercedes falls to the ground.

The teen was pronounced dead at Lincoln Hospital 30 minutes later.

All five members of the group fled on foot north towards Oak Terrace, the senior official said. Late Sunday, police said they group had taken off wearing ski masks.

Two shell casings were recovered at the scene in the hours following the shooting, but the investigators had not yet found the murder weapon or apprehended any suspects.

The evening shoot capped a bloody 24 hours in two of the city's boroughs. NYPD reports counted at least nine victims of gun violence between Brooklyn and the Bronx since late Saturday night.

Blocks away from where the 17-year-old was gunned down, police said a man was fighting for his life after he was shot in the head while sitting inside a tow truck. A man on a moped pulled up to the truck and opened fire around 1 a.m. Sunday, according to police.

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