Six shot overnight as NYC’s gun violence surge continues; all victims likely to survive

Six people were shot and wounded in four separate incidents early Sunday in Brooklyn and Manhattan, police said Sunday.

All six victims were expected to survive. There were no immediate arrests in the shootings.

The gunplay — part of a continued surge across the city this year — started in Brooklyn at 1 a.m. when two men, 43 and 45, were shot in the chest at Beverly Road and Flatbush Ave. in Flatbush. The shooter fled in a dark-colored vehicle and the victims were taken to Kings County Hospital, police said.

An hour later, a gunman got out of a sedan at W. 104th St. and Amsterdam Ave. in Manhattan and opened fire. Two teens, 18 and 17, were hit in the back, police said. The younger victim was also struck in the armpit.

The gunman got back in the car and fled north on Amsterdam Ave. The victims were taken to Mount Sinai Morningside.

At 2:41 a.m. a 19-year-old man was shot in the chest on Foster Ave. near E. 34th St. in Flatbush, police said.

Then, at 3:15 a.m. at E. 91st St. and Kings Highway in East Flatbush, another man the same age was shot in the knee by a gunman who fled in a car.

Even though the crime rate is down this year — it stood at 9% as of last Sunday — murders are up 9%, with 120 people killed this year so far. That’s compared with 110 murders during same time frame last year, according to the NYPD.

Shootings have skyrocketed, with 416 people struck by gunfire so far this year compared with 242 last year — a 72% jump.

Last weekend the city saw even more carnage. Fifteen people were shot in 14 different incidents on Saturday April 24th compared with just one shooting for same weekend last year.

Eugene O’Donnell, a former NYPD cop who is now a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said the gunplay has less to do with the pandemic and more to do with changes in criminal justice policy.

“The reasons are quite clear, police are paralyzed and prosecutors give excuses. It’s a gold era if you want to pick up a gun in New York City,” said O’Donnell, who believes many police officers are afraid to make arrests and prosecutors want to keep people out of jail. “The system won’t put blame on people. The word is out that the risk of carrying a gun are really negligible at this point.”