A 26 year old man was killed yesterday while walking in Brooklyn with his girlfriend. The NY Times calls Jonathan Ridley's death the first killing of 2007:

The authorities said that three people — all male — approached the couple about 12:30 p.m. near Tapscott Street and Sutter Avenue in Brownsville, and that one of them fired at the victim, Jonathan Ridley, of Grafton Street. Mr. Ridley was pronounced dead at the scene, and the police said there might have been an angry exchange of words before the gunman pulled the trigger.

The gunman and the two people with him ran away before two 911 calls — one from Mr. Ridley’s companion — were made as Mr. Ridley lay dying on a rain-soaked sidewalk in front of 49 Sutter Street. The authorities said it appeared that the victim knew his killer and that the shooting may have stemmed from a dispute over drugs.

The NY Sun notes

that the day was pretty violent - there were 13 other incidents that left people shot and injured. However, with one murder on New Year's, 2007 was less violent than New Year's 2005 (four murders) and 2006 (four murders).


And overall, most crimes are down but homicides were up by 9% in 2006. The NYPD attributes that to an increased number of "reclassified" homicides - deaths that can be attributed to a crime from years ago.