Harlem Shooting: Over 50 Bullets Fired, 46 From Cops

The events of the early Sunday morning shooting that left one man dead and at least six—including two cops—injured in Harlem are still being investigated. So far, this is known: At least 50 bullets were fired; 46 came from cops; one of the cops was hit by a police bullet; one civilian victim is in critical condition after suffering 21 bullet wounds. Police spokesman Paul Browne said of the five cops—two uniformed, three plainclothes—"Officers were converging from different areas in a tumultuous situation." A witness said, "We got out of a cab, and it just sounded like Vietnam out here."

Apparently two hundred people were at Lenox Avenue and 144th Street for a block party. At one point, police say, police fired at Angel Alverez, who allegedly fatally shot Luis Soto. According to WABC 7, "At this point, the 23-year-old Alvarez is not in police custody and has not been charged with anything. But that could change as investigators take a closer look at what happened." Some experts expect him to live, since the 20+ gunshots didn't hit any major organs, but his relatives don't believe he could have killed Soto and say the gun recovered at the scene wasn't his. His sister said, "If he was in a situation where he had to defend himself, he would use his hands first."

It's believe that Alvarez, 23, and Soto, 22, were arguing over a woman. The NY Times reports, "Shariff Spencer, 28, a friend of Mr. Alvarez’s, said that Mr. Soto and Mr. Alvarez had been atop a car, then tumbled to the ground and were quickly surrounded by officers. At that point, Mr. Spencer said, a gunshot went off nearby. Then, he said, the police opened fire." Spencer said, "Never once did you hear, ‘Freeze.' Never once did you hear, ‘Stop.’ Never once did you hear, ‘N.Y.P.D.’"

Alvarez's lawyer John Carney told the Post that the gun was actually Soto's (there may be a video) and that his client and Soto were fighting over it; Carney called the shooting an act of self-defense. But Soto's cousin told WABC 7, "He was a good kid, didn't carry a gun on him. A good kid, didn't deserve that."

Police sources told the Daily News, "And because of [three bystanders being shot], and the number of shots, this is going to be a shooting where the tactics are taken a hard look at," and "It's justified, but messy." And Mayor Bloomberg said, "Two police officers shot, fortunately not seriously. [The other police officer suffered a graze wound to the hand.] But there but for the grace of God it could have been much worse. And in terms of our abilities to protect ourselves, to be safe on our streets, we've just got to do something about all these guns—the guns that keep flooding into our cities."

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

By Jen Chung in News on August 9, 2010 2:39 PM

Comments [rss]

Wza

Dude's gonna be on the next "American Gangster" for taking 21 shots.

Sorry Larry Davis, there's a new gangsta to look up to.

mrescalade

that's crazy, i know angel but don,t know him ..if they say it was over a girl then it must be his baby mother and he love's her and like his sister said he will use his hand's first .. he don,t carry gun's i see him every day he might do his dirt but he's handle business the old fashion way fist fight damn ,pls harlem cops are quick to shot first ask later i know .

John L

46 of 50 shots from officers at a large gathering like this and shooting each other?

WTF?

How the fuck are the training these officers? This is ridiculous. They're a hazard to everyone, including themselves. Do they just close their eyes and shoot until they run out of bullets? This isn't law enforcement these are firing squads.

If they can't control themselves they should go back to the 6 shot revolvers, to limit the chances of them killing themselves and everyone around them.

silver

Too much Halo when the pigs were teens. Chaingun FTW!

5borough

As soon as all the unemployed, aspiring rapper, good-boys agree to carry six shot revolvers, the cops should too.

John L

The thing is that all the "unemployed, aspiring rapper, good-boys" seem to have more sense and aren't the ones shooting 46 times at a BBQ. I can't recall if I've ever heard of a criminal or group of criminals (in NYC) shooting anyone 46 times.

We might as well just give cops grenades and let them blow up the whole block and kill everyone, guilty, innocent and fellow officers.

Or if the object is to shoot as many times as possible why not give them AK-47's with hundred round drums.

Ice of Boston

according to the Daily News, the guy who was shot 21 times had just killed someone and fired shots at the policemen.

46 shots from 4 cops isn't a big deal. Most likely they simply emptied their clips, which is standard procedure. It's not like after you've been shot at you just fire back once or twice and go "ok, so did I hit him?"

however, the amount of collateral damage is ridiculous. They hit another cop and like 3 civilians.

Rocknrope

He's still alive. They hit him with 21 shots and he's still alive. Well, it's bad luck for him, and bad luck for the NYPD if they don't make a deal.

Angelheaded Hipster

shot 21 times ! a harlem (and world) record !

definitely want to see him on letterman or at least wendy williams

napalm

So aparently the NYPD is more paranoid and trigger happy than the other criminals. They reportedly shot a man 21 times who was trying "not" to be shot by an unlicensed criminal, and in the prosess, shoot him and eachother.

Can these crooked uniformed killers do anything right? Or legal?

Isnt this like the second or third friendly fire case in a year or so? The first one was trying to stop a car thief and was shot in the back by fellow pigs.

Off-duty or not, it goes to show that these cops are so blood-thirsty that they'll kill their own, just as long as they kill someone

Jamie McDonald

An "unlicensed criminal"? As opposed to what?

napalm

Why twice? No clue. Gothamist!!

GOP

Easy on the submit button there. Don't be so trigger happy.

5borough

Cabs, Parties, Guns..

It is not easy being "poor" in NYC.

ronshapley

200 people at a "block" party at 3 oclock in the morning ????? WTF.... Is there no policiing of these neighborhoods.. They had a permit...WTF ?? The block party was to honor a friend who was killed in street violence a couple of weeks ago... WTF, SMH, WFU