One person was fatally shot and three others were injured in a shooting involving gunmen riding scooters in the Bronx on Tuesday, police said.
The incident happened around 6:15 p.m. near Mt. Eden and Townsend Avenues, according to the NYPD. Assistant Chief at Patrol Borough Bronx Benjamin Gurley said four men riding scooters, including two male shooters, fired at least 10 rounds at four other men standing on the southwest corner of the intersection. They then fled on the scooters down Townsend Avenue towards the Cross Bronx Expressway, he said.
The victims ranged in age from 23 to 37 years old, police said. Three of the men were shot in the leg and a fourth man, a 29-year-old whose identity has not been released, was shot in the chest and leg, authorities said. All four men were taken to Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center, where the 29-year-old was pronounced dead, according to the NYPD.
“The perpetrators wore masks and hoodies to block their identities,” Gurley said.
Gurley added that one man was in custody, but it was not clear if he was directly tied to the incident.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry said the incident exemplified why the department is “aggressively going after” those who ride illegal scooters. He said the department has removed 9,500 illegal scooters, dirt bikes and ATVs off the streets since January – including 2,500 from the Bronx alone. Officers have also recorded 1,300 arrests involving people who commit crimes on scooters, he said.
“We can’t arrest our way out of this problem. You know, with the small individuals, we’re constantly arresting them, arresting them, arresting them,” he said at a press conference at the scene. “There’s other individuals involved in this game of public safety. We’re just the first person in the public safety game that the criminal comes in contact with.”
Daughtry said the NYPD would be instating community response teams to focus primarily on seizing illegal scooters, dirt bikes and other similar vehicles.
The motive of the shooting is under investigation, police said.
