Four Dead In Upper West Side Shooting

Updated: The police say that four people were found dead at an Upper West Side apartment this afternoon, around 1:45 p.m. According to 1010 WINS, the four victims were male: "Police said two bodies were found in a bedroom, one in the bathroom and one in a backyard. A wounded woman was also taken to the hospital. Two children have also been removed from the apartment. Police say they were unharmed."

The incident occurred in a building on Amsterdam Avenue, between 82nd and 83rd Streets. City Room reports, "It appeared that the dead man in the backyard 'may be responsible for the deaths of other three,' said Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s chief spokesman. Officials said that the three people inside the apartment might have suffered gunshot wounds while the man in the backyard might have somehow fallen from a window of the apartment."
WABC 7 reports, "Another woman ran from the apartment, screaming. Witnesses said she leaped from one building to another to escape the carnage. She reportedly ran through a nearby assisted living home, screaming to witnesses that her mother, father and brother were shot. She said the suspect, who is known to the family, fled the scene."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on December 17, 2009 2:46 PM

Comments [rss]

Snoopy

I guess it could also be called "Signed, sealed and delivered."

Snoopy

The latest reports say it was a drug deal gone bad. What a nice Christmas present for all New Yorkers.

inoyourider

Sounds like a den full of drug dealing scumbags got offed.

Good riddance!

And as a bonus, the killer died too!

For the trifecta, throw the surviving adults in jail for drug possession and let the kids maybe have a chance at getting decent foster parents.

Sounds like they crapped out with trashy birth parents.

Snoopy

Never mind. I read an update on the victims and the perp.

Snoopy

Can we at least have the names of the victims and the perp so we can all make false assumptions about what happened?

BklynsFinest

I know it's wrong but doesn't this sound like the opening to the french flick "Leon"? ("The Professional", in the states)

ed_Extinct

Holy shit! I was just thinking that and coming back to make that very comment you made...

juliec

Did anyone listen to This American Life over the weekend? Similar story. I hope the family and friends of these people are given enough room to grieve.

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=342

Wza

It's on the home page of msn.com

theLtrain

Whats with the updates on 1010wins?

"Police say four men were found dead at an apartment in an upscale area of Manhattan"

"The building is on a busy commercial strip in a tree-lined residential neighborhood a few blocks from Central Park and the American Museum of Natural History."

It's as if they're writing this stuff for people who don't live here.

Do they think people out in the middle of America are reading about murders in manhattan? Anyone who lives in NYC, infact, most people who DON'T live in NYC know that the Upper West Side is a wealthy neighborhood. We get it. It's a big deal for 4 people to be killed over there.

It's almost as if they're holding themselves back from writing, in all caps, "THIS IS A WHITE NEIGHBORHOOD. RICH WHITE PEOPLE LIVE HERE. MURDERS SHOULD NOT OCCUR HERE."

BrooklyniteMike

this neighborhood is still heavy with hispanics and blacks its not all it appears

JenChungsBaby

BTW, that line you quoted wasn't written by 1010 WINS. It's from the AP story. You know, the one that runs nationally and gets picked up all over the place:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jrWr7f6m--v3HXc97dU9Og5ZCDbgD9CL9DK00

theLtrain

Whoops, my bad.

My point still stands though, people all over the country who are for some reason reading about murders in places they don't live in (I don't read about crimes or murders in San Fransisco) need to be told over and over again that this is a wealthy neighborhood?

If this had occurred on 129th and Amsterdam would the AP story might read something like "The shootings occurred in a dilapidated shithole known as Harlem where shootings and crimes of this nature are common place, it is a very far walk from Central Park"

Seriously can you give me a legitimate reason for including the fact that the UWS is a wealthy neighborhood, not once, but twice in a 110 word blurb?

jaycjay

It's completely routine to include that type of neighborhood description in crime reporting. Read some articles from different cities and you'll see it all the time. A quick Google News visit and clicking on a few links brings up these descriptions setting the scene for various news stories right now:

"the street of tidy one-story homes"

"lived on a crowded cul-de-sac... where families left their doors unlocked"

"this tony enclave"

"a notoriously rough neighborhood known for drug-related crimes"

JenChungsBaby

You're right. But it just makes the story more interesting, which is what they get paid to do. And yes, if it was at 129th and Amsterdam they almost certainly would have said something about it being a dilapidated shithole, like they did a few months ago when that shopowner killed those guys who were robbing his store.

longacre

Amsterdam in the 80s has its share of not-very-wealthy residents. There's even a housing project tower on 89th and Amsterdam.

theLtrain

Yet this didn't occur on 89th and Amsterdam or even in the projects.

longacre

I know it didn't, my point is these aren't luxury "rich white people" apts.

Mr Mel

If it were luxury white people apartments the probability of it happening would be much less

whitecastlerock

Precisely, these are the old time walk up buildings where people have been living for a long time. I lived on 84th and Amsterdam about 11 years ago and it was pretty rough between 82nd to 85th streets on Amsterdam Avenue. Plenty on seedy, gangster wannabe types flexing their muscles with pit bulls. No stroller mafia here I suspect. It is a tragedy that these people were murdered in cold blood. There aren't any descriptions of this friend of the family who may have been responsible for this?

JenChungsBaby

Actually, the shooting is featured on Google News' main page right now. So yes, people all over the country are in fact reading about it.

ed_Extinct

what street/ave?

lover's quarrel or drug related.

theLtrain

83rd and Amsterdam.

One of these sites had the address up for a bit but they removed it but it's 494 Amsterdam Ave.

Snoopy

The facts please, only the facts. Names of the deceased. Cause of death. Name of the idiot that did this. Any description of the perp? Chinese? Third generation Italian? Checoslavakian hit man?

JenChungsBaby

That red and white awning in the far left of that picture is an Indian restaurant I order in from a lot. Excellent lamb vindaloo.

Wza

hahaha!

Even semi-comedians have bad days.

:(

Wza

Stroller mafia vs Bjorn Bandits?

theLtrain

Wait a second...

you're usually at least a little bit funny.

Did NannyState hijack your account for this post or what?

evbo

As much as it can feel like suburbia up there sometimes -- and it does -- it's not.

felixthecat2

WTF???

theLtrain

I can't imagine this being about anything else but drugs but we'll see.

airtech1

wow. glad that I didn't hit EJ's this afternoon ... crossfire and eggs.

BrooklyniteMike

wrong block, try Ceasers for pistol pizza

longacre

CBS reporting all four dead.

Huffy6241

"1 Like"

Boogie Down

At present, more "likes" than comments. New Yorkers can be such a compassionate bunch.

Anonymous Lost Cause

I've never used the "Like" feature but I'm guessing it's either for people who want to flag something for themselves and come back to it later, or people who want to convey that they like getting breaking news on Gothamist. Seems very strained to read it as expressing an appreciation for murder.