Results tagged “bedfordstuyvesant”

After the early evening drive-by shooting that killed two and injured another on Thursday night, a victim's mother spoke out. Antoine Stokes, 20, and 15-year-old Steven Hill were fatally shot by gunmen in a SUV as they sat on their Bedford-Stuyvesant stoop, while Derrick Henry, 14 or 16, was wounded. Stokes' mother Ernestine said her son was in the wrong place at the wrong time, adding he even worried about the violence in the neighborhood, "I just want you to catch his killer and get these crimes off the street because it's too bad that you have to lose your child over stupidness that he didn't do." Yesterday, the Daily News said that locals were weary of the drug-related violence, with a school principal saying, "There's a street turf war around here. We've been putting up with this for too long."

Yesterday, right before 6 p.m., gunmen in an SUV opened fire on a group of people sitting on a stoop in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Steven Hill, 15, and Antoine Stokes, 20, were both shot multiple times and later pronounced dead while Derek Henry, (either 14 or 16), is in stable condition at Kings County Hospital. The NY Times spoke to witnesses, who said "the three youths were caught off guard when a car drove by and a barrage of shots — as many as 20, some estimated — poured out its windows"; one added, "I saw people running and screaming, scattering all over the place. Any place they could find a place to hide." According to the Daily News, "A three-way feud among rival groups sparked" the violence. "The beef involved the gunned-down group, which hung out on Bainbridge St., and competing crews from the Brevoort Houses in Ocean Hill and the Jackie Robinson Houses in Manhattan, the police source said." The Post, which suggests that Hill may have been the target, reports, "Community activist Tony Herbert said cops told him the shooting was in retaliation for a robbery earlier in the day."

A police cruiser responding to a call was T-boned by another car in Bedford-Stuyvesant earlier this morning. The incident occurred at Greene and Lewis Avenues around 3:30 a.m. WCBS 2, whose footage shows the cruiser flipped over, reports, "The two officers were taken to Bellevue Hospital. Two people in the other car were taken to Brookdale Hospital, where they are believed to be in stable condition. According to police, none of the injuries are life threatening. Police said they do not expect to press charges, and the incident was an accident."

Last night, two people were fatally shot in the head while a third was injured in a shooting on inside a home Van Buren Street in Bedford Stuyvesant. According to the AP, "A 16-year-old girl and a 53-year-old man" were killed while a 22-year-old man was wounded in the hand. The Daily News describes a Bed-Stuy shooting (probably the same one because the addresses are close) but says that two men were killing on the street and that an injured person ran into a building. Police are asking the public for tips, call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS or text CRIMES (274637) with information.

The police arrested a teenager in connection with the Friday hit-and-run, where a black Mercedes jumped a curb and crashed into a tree, alsohitting two brothers walking on the sidewalk. WCBS 2 reports that Samuel Branch, 18, was charged with "unlicensed driving and leaving the scene of an accident." Branch allegedly denied the charges, telling reporters while led from the precinct, "I was trying to help those kids," referring to 16-year-old Dwayne Jackson and 4-year-old Dillon Jackson. The Daily News says that the pre-K student was given a blood transfusion and "had pins inserted in his leg and will need six to eight weeks to recover." And the Post spoke to Dwayne, who suffered a broken arm when trying to protect Dillon from the car; the big brother said his pain was "nothing compared to my brother being alive."

A 16-year-old tried to protect his 4-year-old brother from a car that jumped a Bedford-Stuyvesant curb yesterday afternoon and struck them on a sidewalk. Dwayne Jackson suffered a broken arm while Dillan, a pre-K student, is in critical condition, with a broken leg and pelvis (the 4-year-old also had his lungs drained of blood). One witness said, "I heard the impact and I looked and then I saw the child spread out all over the street. I saw this kid like a rag doll on the ground so I went downstairs and started to pray for him." Others say the driver of the black Mercedes, which crashed into a tree, ran away, but not before, according to a witness who spoke to the Post, "He held the little boy - cradling him in his arms - and handed him off." Police brought in helicopters and K9 units (pictured is one dog with the suspect's shoe) to track the suspect. The boys' mother told the Daily News, "We're trying to keep it together. It looks like they're both going to make it."

A 17-year-old teenage girl was fatally shot early yesterday morning when gunfire broke out at a party held at the Elks Plaza on Fulton St. in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Nyasia Pryear, who was shot in the neck, was an honor student at Nazareth Regional High School and her relatives say she was looking forward to attending college in the fall. Two other teens were injured in the melee.

With police looking for the shooter who killed a 14-year-old in Bedford-Stuyvesant Tuesday night, his family and friends begged the community for answers. Apparently Mario Smith (also referred to as Mario Avilaz) was caught in the gunfire after a someone fired "in response to" an argument between two women. A friend said, "If you know something say something, and let's get to the bottom of this," and community activist Anthony Herbert said, "Let's go and eradicate this crime out of our community. That's the only way that it's going to get done. It can't get done by the NYPD by themselves, it's not going to get done by Mayor [Michael] Bloomberg or the governor. It's going to be done by us in the community, standing together, and making a change."

Last night around 8:30 p.m., Mario Avilaz "died in a hail of gunfire" between "at least two shooters in front of a Bedford-Stuyvesant apartment building," the Daily News reports. Avilaz, described as a good studentl, had been hanging around outside his building at Kingston Avenue and Herkimer Street. The police have not disclosed what the motive was, but a community activist told the Post he thought Avilaz was "hit by a stray bullet from a nearby dispute" (perhaps a fight between two girls). His mother tearfully told the News, "I was getting ready for Christmas, and now I'm getting ready for a funeral. I'm nothing without my son - my only son."

A man is being questioned in connection to the murder of a B46 bus driver yesterday afternoon in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The driver, Edwin Thomas, was fatally stabbed by a passenger over an argument about a transfer. 1010 WINS reports, "A tip led police to the [28-year-old] man, an alleged drug dealer, who was taken into custody at a friend's house in East New York." He is being questioned at the 81st Precinct.

Earlier this morning, the Fire Department responded to a fire at 474 Greene Avenue in Brooklyn. Brownstoner has some more details, as a neighbor explains many residents have been concerned about the brownstone, "a well known crack house that has been in operation for at least 3 years," even trying to work with the Brooklyn DA's office, NYPD and community leaders "to no avail." The neighbor says there had been a late night party and pointed out the windows of had been covered with sheets, "Clearly we are all in immediate danger when people are living without electricity, using candles and making crack." The fire was put out and the building essentially gutted.

The police have arrested two teens who are accused of luring a cop "into the line of fire" in Bed-Stuy on Sunday. Cops say a 15-year-old "purposefully distracted a cop": The teen first spoke to a uniformed patrol cop, headed into a Chinese restaurant and gave some food to a group across the street from the cop, and went back to talk to the cop. Then an 18-year-old, Bloods gang member Keith Myers, allegedly fired at the cop from across the street. Myers, who claimed he was firing at a different car with a Crips member pointing a gun at him, was charged with attempted murder and weapons possession. The other teen, also a member of the Bloods, was charged with attempted murder, acting in concert and reckless endangerment.

Don't leave a loaded gun sitting in your car when parking in Bed-Stuy. That's the lesson FBI Agent Robert Julian learned last month when his service weapon was stolen after he left it for just a few minutes inside a knapsack in his car parked on Nostrand Avenue. The knapsack contained his .40 caliber Glock, loaded with one magazine containing 13 rounds of ammunition as well as Julian's cell phone. The Smoking Gun reported the theft yesterday after obtaining US Attorney General's Office's request to obtain the cell phone records. The gun was retrieved four days later, but the phone remains missing.

Police officers shot a man in the shoulder earlier this morning. A woman has complained her ex was violating a protection of order and was armed. WNBC reports, "He fled from police, ducked between several cars and when he emerged it appeared he had a gun," so an officer fired. And according to WABC 7, the victim, who is expected to recover, "reportedly has numerous domestic incident reports lodged against him by this woman and numerous other women." But police did not find a gun.

Last night around 8:45 p.m., police officers patrolling in Bedford-Stuyvesant killed a man who fired at them. They had seen the man, per WNBC, "running down the street with a gun in his hand." When they asked him to stop, he fired instead.

Authorities believe 5-year-old Jay "Tito" Morales set fire to his grandmother's apartment in an act of revenge, because she wouldn't let him go to the park. Now the child is in critical condition after suffering third-degree burns over 70-90% of his body.

Even though around 200 people attended the Brooklyn barbecue where one person was killed and four people were injured in gun fire, the Post reports there has been little or no cooperation from witnesses. More chillingly, it's suggested that the fatality, 21-year-old college student Zeanie White, may have been used as a "human shield" by another shooting victim who may have been the real target. Police are offering $12,000 for information leading to an arrest and successful conviction; they urge people to call Crimestoppers at 800-577-TIPS.

A July 4th weekend barbecue turned tragic when a group reportedly "crashed the party and unleashed a barrage of gunfire." A 21-year-old woman was killed and four others were taken to the hospitals.

The terrible death of a 3-year-old child while under the case of his godmother and her boyfriend has Bedford-Stuyvesant neighbors reeling. Kyle Smith was declared dead on Friday, after an attempt by EMS to save him. The ME's office found he had a broken leg, a broken pelvis, bruises, signs of being sodomized with a wooden stick, and cigarette burns all over his body.

A 27-year-old woman was dead found with her throat slashed yesterday morning. And police say that she was killed while putting her 1-year-old son into his car seat yesterday morning.

Students were confined to classrooms until the end of the school day yesterday afternoon after a student was badly injured in a stabbing just after noon. Police swarmed through Paul Robeson High School in Bedford-Stuyvesant, looking for a student suspected in the stabbing of 18-year-old Kyle Owens, who was wounded in the neck and the chest with an unidentified weapon. Teacher and basketball coach Todd Myles helped save Owens' life by coming to his immediate aid.

According to The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the 11233 zip code that encompasses Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights had the highest foreclosure rates for subprime mortgages in the entire nation in October. More than one in four people, or 25.2%, with subprime loans in the zip code lost their homes to foreclosure. That's almost four times the national average of 6.9%.

Yesterday morning, two men riding bicycles were killed in separate accidents. Both occurred in Brooklyn. Around 4AM, the a 26-year-old at Union Avenue and Ten Eyck Street in East Williamsburg was hit by an oil truck. WABC reported that he was cycling in the wrong direction. The cyclist, identified as Craig Murphy [sic] who is a member of RightRides, died at the scene. The truck driver was not charged.

Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg announced a project to commemorate abolitionist activity that occurred in Brooklyn in the 1800s. He named a panel made up of community leaders, academics, and historians to aid the city and Downtown Brooklyn Partnership in asking for and reviewing commemoration proposals.

In 2005 Barbara Walters mentioned her distaste for public breastfeeding on The View and was met at the show's studio with "lactivists" protesting her statement.

Last weekend, a Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood was shocked when a cashier at the Chinese take out restaurant Happy House was shot in the face while another worker who shot in the hand. Neighbors were devastated, telling ABC 7, "That's wrong, [the restaurant] didn't bother anybody. They tried to help people out. I don't know why people would do that to them."

Representative and head of the Homeland Security committee Peter King of New York wants better airport security. How much better? Well, better enough to protect against shoulder-fired missiles. In fact, let's look at the transcript of what he said on Fox News (yeah, we know, Fox News...) since he mentioned a NYC neighborhood while talking to Chris Wallace:

Well, I'm not saying we should be targeting people, Chris, but I think we should put political correctness somewhat to the side and say that a screener or even an airline should have the right to factor in a person's national origin.

Continue reading "Airline Travel: More Than Meets the Eye"

A seven year old girl was found dead in her Bedford Stuyvesant apartment, beaten to death. Police discovered horrifying details of Nixzmary Brown's short life: A chair with ropes where she was bound, a cat litter box she was forced to use. A detective said, "When all the facts come out on this, it's going to be as bad as Lisa Steinberg." Her stepfather, Cesar Rodriguez, was charged with second degree murder and sexual abuse, and her mother, Nixzaliz Santiago, was charged with manslaughter; Rodriguez reportedly would beat Nixzmary and isolate her from the other children in the family. She was also found weighing 36 pounds - according to weight charts, 7 year olds at the 50th percentile are around 50-55 pounds.

For more about MLK, go to The King Center, with an essay about the holiday from Coretta Scott King (she also did a rare recent public appearance last week). And InfloPlease has links to many MLK-related events.