Williamsburg Shootings Down, Mixed Messages Up
Cops released positive new statistics for Williamsburg gun crime—the number of shootings in 2009 was about half of the previous year's count. According to the Daily Courier ten people were shot in 2009, that's eleven fewer than in than the 21 gun victims in 2008, a 52.4 percent decrease for the Bedford Avenue belt. Those are good stats, but is 2010 bucking the trend already?
Just three days ago, on Jan. 3, they nabbed their first killer of the new year. Forty-nine-year-old Mauro Lopez was playing pool with a relative, on January 2 in the back of a bodega on Broadway, when he stormed out of the makeshift pool hall, announcing that he was going to get a gun. As promised, he returned with a pistol and fired a deadly shot into his nephew's chest.
In other bad news, cops say that felonies in 2009 increased. Last year 223 people were violently attacked, up from 219 in 2008. So in conclusion, you're safe Williamsburg. Just watch out for men with knives. And pool cues. And machetes!
