1 teen dead, another wounded after shooting at Bronx subway station
NEW YORK -- One teenager was killed and another was injured in a shooting inside a Bronx subway station on Monday night.
Borough President Vanessa Gibson said Tuesday she's trying to stop the bloodshed, but needs help on the state and federal level.
A community is in anguish after two more teenagers fell victim to violence. Police say the 17-year-olds were on the mezzanine level of the Burke Avenue subway station on Monday night when both were shot -- and one was killed.
"It makes me feel disheartened, because they are dying and we are losing the youth more now than ever," Allerton resident Joanne Nikki Ballard said.
Sources say there was a fight between two groups on a Manhattan bound No. 2 train. The dispute spilled onto the platform, where one teen was shot in the hip. The other was died was shot multiple times in the head, arm, and shoulder. Police say the shooter pushed the dead teen down the stairs and fired several more bullets into his body.
"We know that this is probably a neighborhood issue. I guarantee you when we do the investigation and we get all the individuals involved and we identify where they live, I assure you they all live in the same neighborhood," Gibson said.
On Tuesday, riders lamented the fact another teen lost his life. Over the last several years, there's been an increase in the number of shooters and victims under the age of 18.
"I just don't understand what's going on. Why is this world so corrupt? Why are people hurting people?" neighbor Josephine Boyd said.
"I feel like a lot of young people lack guidance, so they find themselves in situations where they are really unsafe and it's really unfortunate," added Ryanna Grant of Allerton.
Gibson says the Allerton section of the Bronx is known for gang violence. Her office has been working to create more jobs and programs for youth, but she said, "Even doing all of that, guess what challenge we still have? I cannot single handedly stop the overflow of guns that come into the Bronx, that come up 95."
For violence to be rooted out, Gibson says the first step is illegal guns.
Police are still searching for the gunman in Monday night's shooting.
The MTA said it has 12 cameras at the station and all of them were working. The footage has been provided to police.
Anyone with information about the shooting 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.
