Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Bullet Control

In my previous posts I alluded to some of the violence in Harlem that was the norm for so much of the 80's and 90's. Some people viewed this as an exaggeration...but its clear that Harlem still has a major drug and gun problem. This is the 4th mass shooting of the Summer of '08, and it is only by the Grace of God, that no one has been killed yet as a result. It was this latest round, which took place on Sunday at 2pm in the afternoon, which was the most disturbing. The block was full of pedestrians and children, and the end result was that two elderly women were caught in the crossfire. Below are pix from the Police investigation and my final thoughts on this continuing menace to the good people of Harlem.
From what I gathered here's where one shooter first confronted the victim, shooting at him as he exited this building.

This was the scene from across the street. Plenty of potential eyewitnesses as well as people who were in the line of fire.
The place that's taped off in the photo above was another part of the crime scene. There could have been a second shooter there, but I wasnt able to get any info from the asshole stringers that were on scene.
After confronting his target (and missing), it appears the victim pulled out his own weapon and returned fire. The battle then moved to the corner pictured below.
This is a shot of the spot where two shots hit the wall and fragmented. It was these fragments which struck the two bystanders.
Definitely some irony going on with the signage here.
And yes, the Crime Scene Investigator just had to be Asian.
Another one of the shell casings...looks like a .380 auto.
From here, the assailant and victim split up. One going down 113th, the other up St. Nicholas.
Yes, Warburg? Do you have any unleaded 1 bedroom condos in the "Central Park North" area? Ahhh, no.
Another interesting note here is the presence of not one, but two, security cameras which hopefully captured the scene. To make a long story short, this crime will definitely be solved as there is a ton of pressure and evidence coming down. Now the cops know to pay special attention to this area, which ironically makes it safer. Refering back to my Kung Fu Fighting post, this is why it is so important to nurture programs like C.A.S.H. and Brotherhood Sister/Sol. These organizations teach young people alternatives to the street, thereby reducing the likely-hood of such violent confrontations. Now a short piece by Chris Rock...

So according to Chris $5000 x 6 bullets= $30,000 that these criminals should donate. Karma is a beeyatch!
Shit, I hope so!

11 comments:

Lenoxave said...

Wonderful blog. I was born in Harlem Hospital and raised on 129th street. The photos are incredible and indicative of the crime and violence that have always been a part of Harlem.

There are also beautiful things as well and you've captured them well. I miss block parties. :-)

Keep up the good work.

yojimbot said...

Thanks for your support sdg1844. I would love to hear some stories and see some pix from your past.

Regards,

J

Anonymous said...

In depth reporting on the situation. Great job!

yojimbot said...

Thanks Uptown Flavor...I was trying to be serious AND funny. Not easy!

Keep your head on a swivel.

Erica said...

Agreed, fantastic blog. This posting is so timely. I live in Morningside Hts (or "SoHa" / "South Harlem). On Monday night I heard screaming outside my window and heard an exchange of gunshots. I called my local police precinct and 911 to try to get some police presence, but both people I spoke to seemed unimpressed and unwilling to do anything proactive. Yet seven cops showed up to a sick houseparty last weekend because of noise. Thanks for your initiative NYPD.

yojimbot said...

Thanks Erica...sucks about the Police response to that "incident." Upon returning to the scene yesterday, I did notice one of those Police 3 wheeled Interceptor thingys patrolling around. I also saw cops forcing people off the corners of 125th and St. Nicholas over the weekend. (Never saw that before in 15yrs). Hopefully they will step it up a little bit till school starts.
Also, I also noticed a new coffee shop opened up on 112th and the corner of St. Nicholas.

PS that party sounded hot. Email me next time!

Anonymous said...

Ha-ha! Not as easy as it looks. LOL!

KC said...

Another shooting tonight on 114th - a block away. This has got to stop and we have got to unite to stop it.

yojimbot said...

Dear KC,

I was unable to find info on that newest event. Can you provide any details? Also what did you have in mind by "uniting to stop it?"

J

St. Nicholas Court Condo board said...

Thanks for this post, yojimbot. Having just moved to 114th and St. Nick a month ago, I have to say this freaked the crap out of me, especially since there have been 2 in the span of a week! Scary that this happened in broad daylight - there are always kids playing out on the sidewalks, which actually made me feel pretty safe. Hopefully you're right and police presence will be increased (I have seen a lot more cops around since then). Please keep posting! Thanks.

yojimbot said...

Thanks for the feedback Emily. Seems like the latest spat of violence is a turf battle between the projects over by St. Nick and some pushers over on Frederick Douglas. Blocks to be wary of at night at 115th, 114th and 113th between Frederick Douglas and Adam Clayton Powell.