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Bronx teen Gerardo Parraga was on his cell phone with his girlfriend when he was confronted and shot on Lafayette Avenue. The police believe Parraga was killed in a botched robbery after leaving a Washington Mutual on Saturday night. His girlfriend heard the confrontation and gunfire and called his family; the family discovered Parraga, who was shot in the shoulder and died at the scene. His family said cash, his cell phone and jewelry were missing.
The 19 year old had been taking computer programming classes at Columbia through its Service Learning in Community Environment while also working as a security guard at New York Law School. A detective told the Post that Parraga was, "from what we've heard, the nicest kid in the world."
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Out of curiosity, why do you cover random shootings? People get murdered in New York in these sorts of incidents, and it's hardly newsworthy. It just seems sensationalistic, Jen.
Keep the shooting coverage to the big stories (like this weekend's), and leave the fear mongering to The Post.
Um, last I checked, this wasn't your blog.......
I think that random shootings - as well as hit-and-runs and "random" crimes - are important to know about, because while the city is safer than it has been before, it doesn't mean crime doesn't exist.
It's also instructional to know what circumstances the crimes and shootings occur in so that you can protect yourself from being a potential victim, e.g., don't withdraw $$ from a ATM in the evening in NYC, particularly when there are few to no people around.
As a Gothamist reader, I want to read stories not widely covered in larger outlets. Stories that deal with New York specific incidents are absolutely relevant. New Yorkers shouldn't have the "murders happen all the time; who cares if it's not politically relevant" attitude. Apathy isn't hip anymore.
#1, what about this story offends you? Stuff like this happens a lot, so that makes it ok? A promising young kid's life is gone for nothing, and you feel that this is not worth mentioning? True, maybe they are making a bigger deal out of this because he was an Ivy League student who lived in a relatively safe neighborhood, rather than some thug who got offed in a seedy area. However people relate to this because it is a kid they feel like they know, in a neighborhood much like their own. I wonder if this incident happened to someone you cared about, would you protest Gothamist doing a segment on it?
As for the hit and runs, I really appreciate the mentions, I had no idea they were so prevalent and will be much more vigilant on the street.