Multiple People Wounded in Queens Shooting
An ordinary evening on 37th Ave. in Queens turned into the scene of a mass shooting Saturday night. Ten people were shot and wounded as members of the Trinitarios gang targeted three men standing in front of a barbershop. All victims are expected to survive.
While the three men were the targets, seven other bystanders were shot in the melee, which started at about 10:40 p.m. The gunmen were wearing hoodies and masks, and as they turned the corner on the street, the mass shooting started. Once the shooting stopped, then men jumped on waiting scooters to escape, according to captured video footage. The gunmen littered at least 37 bullets towards the barbershop.
A Latino section of Queens, known as North Corona, is not known for gun violence. The shooting brought both New York mayoral candidates to the scene, both denouncing gang violence and use of illegal guns. This shooting marks a recorded 898 shootings this year, compared to the 771 recorded the same time last year.
Eric Adams, the Democratic nominee and a former police captain who ran on his law enforcement record and a promise to crack down on crime, warned that the violence would only worsen without adequate intervention.
“We are losing the grip on public safety. We have to respond immediately and treat this like the crisis that it is,” Adams said, who is likely to become the city’s next mayor.
He called on the city to target gun violence with a joint gangs and guns task force tightly coordinated among federal, state and city agencies.
The Republican nominee, Curtis Sliwa, called for expanding the Police Department’s gang unit and database as well as providing more money to pay confidential informants.