Violent weekend in New York City as more than dozen shot, at least 3 dead
NEW YORK -- It was a violent weekend in the city. More than a dozen people were shot across all boroughs.
Despite the gun violence, shootings are actually down double digits from this time last year.
Two of the weekend shootings alone took place on 125th Street in Harlem, including one fatal inside a smoke shop, Level Up Exotics, on Saturday night. Police have identified the victim as 42-year-old Alfred Johnson.
The NYPD says Johnson was shot in the torso and neck just after 10 p.m. after some kind of argument. Police are investigating whether or not he was killed by a store employee.
Early Sunday morning, police say a woman was shot in the chest near a BP gas station also on 125th Street. Police don't believe the two incidents are connected.
Caution tape was put up in every borough this weekend. More than a dozen were been shot throughout the city, including on Staten Island, where police say a 20-year-old was shot Saturday. Among the shooting victims, police said at least three died.
Klea Blackhurst has been living in the city since 1985, and was getting flashbacks.
"It seems we're kind of back at that sort of gritty level in a way, everything kind of Disney-fied and cleaned up, and then it seems to be sort of rough again right now, so it kind of breaks my heart," said Blackhurst, of Harlem.
But the NYPD reports shootings are down double digits from this time last year.
"If that's true, I don't really know. If it's down, I'll take that. I'll take the statistic. I'm not gonna argue with it," Blackhurst said.
A 24-year-old was also killed after he was shot in the chest in a quadruple shooting in the Bronx on Friday afternoon. Two suspects captured on surveillance video have since been arrested.
CBS2 talked to Pam Damon, with organization Not on My Watch, this weekend, who said much still needs to be done, even if the numbers are down double digits in the city.
"We need to have more resources. We need to have an area where our youth can talk and we can hear them. Our schools need to be more active, our elected officials," Damon said.
A man named Corey told CBS2 he moved to Harlem from South Florida a year and a half ago.
"That's New York. I feel like I've always heard that, even before I moved here, know what I mean? So, it's not really shocking to me. It didn't stop me. It's the highs and lows of New York," Corey said.
After the smoke shop shooting on Saturday night, police say two suspects fled in a blue SUV. No arrests have been made.