By Daniel Katzive
Police in Upper Manhattan were on the alert Wednesday after three shooting incidents near high schools on Tuesday, which they believe may have been related.
The first of the Tuesday incidents occurred on the Upper West Side at 10am on West 68th Street, a few blocks north of Martin Luther King, Jr. High School. A suspect was quickly arrested after that shooting, as reported by West Side Rag at the time. But a subsequent shooting of two people on 125th Street and Madison remains unsolved, as does a shots-fired incident at 105th Street and Park Avenue.
Speaking at a press conference Tuesday afternoon, NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said “right now we are proceeding as if they are all connected.” The Daily News has reported that police are investigating a connection between the shootings and an ongoing gang rivalry, citing a source. Chief Chell said the NYPD would remain at an elevated level of mobilization through school dismissal on Wednesday.
At the 24th Precinct Community Council Wednesday night, Commanding Officer Captain Noreen Lazarus confirmed that, while none of Tuesday’s shootings had occurred in the 2-4, the precinct had deployed extra manpower around school dismissal time, on top of already elevated levels of coverage the precinct has been providing. “Where we have a strong presence every day, we definitely beefed it up today…it was really what we call all hands on deck.”
Further south, in the 20th precinct, extra patrols could also be observed in the vicinity of Martin Luther King, Jr. High School, as well as in front of the McDonalds at 71st and Amsterdam.
Aside from these incidents, which occurred in neighboring precincts, Captain Lazarus told the Community Council meeting that crime in the 24th Precinct has quieted down in late February and early March after a rougher start to the year. Violent felony numbers have declined and the captain said there have been no major incidents in the past six to seven weeks.
Grand larceny reports and auto theft numbers do remain elevated, but even those incidents were running at levels comparable to last year’s pace over the 28-day period ending Sunday.
In other news at the meeting, Tom Burnett, who has led the precinct’s Community Council for 23 years, announced he would not seek re-election for another term in June. “It’s time for new leadership,” he told the meeting. “This position has meant so much to me,” he said.
The 24th Precinct Community Council meetings are held on the third Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m. in the Bloomingdale Library on West 100th Street across from the precinct, and are open to the public.
