Fatal Shooting at 118th Street and Amsterdam

A reader wrote on Gothamist Contribute:

Tonight, (Sunday, Dec 2) at 3am, there was a fight at 119th & amsterdam, in front of a bar. I was walking on the other side of the avenue, and it was clear that things were escalating.

All of a sudden, I heard two gunshots -- like a 'pop', except louder, like a tire bursting -- and I saw everyone scatter; everyone walking down my side of the avenue started running immediately.

After I ran home, I saw police cars and ambulances honing in. Most certainly not a good night.

The Gothamist Newsmap showed a shooting at West 118th and Amersterdam in the early morning, and then an evidence search around 9AM - another reader said that the body was removed around 9AM.

The incident appeared to occur near (if not in) the restaurant Radio Perfecto, which is across the street from the Columbia campus. An eyewitness wrote to Bwog and reported a crowd of more than 25 people were in a fight outside the restaurant: The people were "decidedly non-columbia looking people in front of the bar, (they seemed older than college/grad students, dressed differently, and the crowd was predominantly black, I think)."

And Columbia issued a statement: "Some on the Morningside campus may be aware of police activity on the East side of Amsterdam Avenue at 119th Street on Sunday morning. NYPD officers are investigating a shooting of two people, one fatally, at approximately 3 am this morning outside of Radio Perfecto. The victims were not Columbia affiliates."