Canarsie lawmakers including State Sen. Roxanne J. Persaud, Assemblymember Jaime Williams and City Councilmember Alan Maisel came together yesterday to condemn the severe rash of gun violence in Canarsie neighborhoods earlier this week.
The incidents included:
On Monday, July 13, in the lobby of 872 Williams Avenue, according to police within the 69th Precinct, an unconscious and unresponsive 20-year-old male with multiple gunshot wounds to the head and torso was rushed to Kings County Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Earlier in the evening, on July 14, there were several additional shootings, said police. They gave this detailed account of what happened:
- At 6:19 pm on 1571 Remsen Avenue, a 23-year-old female was shot four times in the chest. Ten minutes later, at 6:31pm, on 2105 Rockaway Parkway three 19-year-old males were shot– one shot in the elbow, one shot in the leg, and the last was shot in the back.
- Two minutes later, at 6:33 pm on Flatlands between 4th Street and East 108 Street, the police said, another 19-year-old male accompanied by a female on a scooter was shot once in his back.
All shooting victims were taken to Brookdale Hospital, and at this time no one is likely to die from their wounds, said police. All three of these shootings involved a white 4-door-sedan, prompting the police to intuit that all of these shootings were drive-bys with the victims being intended targets, said police.
“It’s our reality, what has happened, and we have to work to ensure this never happens again,” said Persaud (D-Canarsie, East New York, Brownsville, Mill Basin, Sheepshead Bay, Bergen Beach, Marine Park, Flatlands, Mill Island, Georgetown, Ocean Hill, Starrett City). “What do you say when you see a 1-year-old kid get killed? There’s a sense of a loss of humanity–why aren’t people marching in the streets for what’s happening?”
Persaud said that solving the issue of gun violence is going to take long-term commitment, whatever political side you’re on, people have to work together so that working-class and residential neighborhoods like Canarsie don’t suffer.
Maisel (D-Canarsie, Flatlands, Georgetown, Gerritsen Beach, Bergen Beach, Marine Park, Mill Basin, Mill Island and Sheepshead Bay) said, “Last night, there were multiple incidents of drive-by shootings in Canarsie. I was horrified and dismayed by this reckless behavior that left several people with gun wounds. Thankfully it seems that all of the victims will survive. No matter how many guns our New York City Police Department takes off the streets, there seems to be a never-ending supply of illegal guns coming into the city. These illegal guns of course wind up in the hands of criminals who have no regard for human life.”
States that lack strict gun laws, particularly along I-95 south highway, have been linked to New York’s supply of trafficked guns in the past according to a crime gun analysis. These states, similarly, have an area of trafficking that’s also been attributed to the surge of illegal fireworks as of late in New York City.
Williams (D-Canarsie, Georgetown, Mill Basin, Marine Park, Bergen Beach, Gerritsen Beach) said the violence plaguing the city and state is a disease in and of itself.
“The need to preserve life and care for one another is more important today than in most times in America’s history and culture. I can not stress the fact that these individuals who fell prey to gun violence are not nameless; they are sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, not a nameless statistic. We must come together, and we must combat this unnecessary wave of violence and replace it with love and respect for one another,” said Williams.
