2 dead, several others wounded as gun violence breaks out after 4th of July in the Bronx
NEW YORK -- There have been nine shootings, 11 victims, and two fatalities across the city since midnight Wednesday.
The violence is impacting New Yorkers physically, emotionally and financially.
CBS New York investigative reporter Tim McNicholas saw the aftermath of the early morning shooting on Morris Avenue in the Fordham Heights section of the Bronx. One of the bullets struck a building window.
The violence is not only taking lives, but hurting livelihoods.
"I'm lucky. I'm lucky," Lenny Difo said.
- Related story: "We're losing youth here": Bronx residents speak out after wave of gun violence kills, injures teens
Difo said he spends about 12 hours in a car every day. That's why the Lyft driver is thankful he wasn't in it Wednesday morning, when at least three stray bullets struck the parked Toyota Camry.
"I feel a little bit scared and I have a kid, so it's hard for me to take my kid around here, realizing this, you have to be in the middle of a war," Difo said.
Surveillance video shows someone hop out of a white car on Morris Avenue near 182nd Street and start shooting at a group of people at around 2 a.m. Police say an 18-year-old was shot in the leg and died, and a 19-year-old was shot in the hip and is expected to survive.
The NYPD said officers captured two suspects after what appeared to be that same white car crashed near East 170th and Grand Concourse.
Police say 19-year-old Ariel Velasquez, of the Bronx, and 28-year-old Ramon Santos, of Brooklyn, were arrested and are facing a number of charges, including murder, attempted murder and manslaughter.
"You know what? It becomes routine here. We had a kid that got shot here last year," said Nero Graham Jr., who lives nearby.
That was back in November, when a 14-year-old was killed just feet away from the scene of the Wednesday morning shooting.
At a news conference this week, police said they've seen an unprecedented increase over the past few years in young people becoming shooting victims -- or suspects -- and they say 14% of all the shootings this year, alone, involved youth under the age of 18.
When asked why this is happening, NYPD Chief of Crime Control Strategies Michael Lipetri said, "When young crew members get arrested with a gun and the other crew members see that person the very next day walking around, it empowers some individuals, unfortunately, to carry a gun."
Police also said they've been adding officers to the Bronx and shootings are down about 30% in the borough compared to last year.
Citywide police data shows shootings are down about 25% from last year, but still up compared to 2018 and 2019.
CBS New York has learned of at least 22 shootings across the city since Friday afternoon, and for many New Yorkers, that's 22 too many.
"I was supposed to work today to pay my debit cards, but now I'm gonna have to wait," Difo said.
The most recent shooting we've learned of was at around 8:30 a.m. A 52-year-old man was shot in the Harding Park section of the borough.
Anyone with information about any of the shootings is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or via DM on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.
