An armed man killed a rival after a fight at a baby shower in the Bronx (NYC), and was later shot to death with his own pistol by the victim’s younger brother.
The two men who ended up dead were inside a party on Webster Ave. and E. 198th St in Bedford Park when they got into a fight Saturday night, New York police said.
Their fight spilled out onto the street, where Arnold Oliver, of 24 years old, allegedly shot Jamal Smith in the face (28) around the 11 pm, police said. The shot man’s friends then jumped on his attacker, the NYPD said.
A brother of the first wounded man, Wayne Smith (28), managed to remove the gun to suspect Oliver and shot him in the chest, according to police. The reason for the dispute is unclear. Both injured were rushed to St. Barnabas hospital, but could not be saved.
The Smith brothers were born with 10 months apart and Wayne turned 28 on Saturday, the day of the murders, police sources said. The brothers are from New Rochelle, while Oliver lived in Peekskill, both towns in Westchester County, according to police.
Videos recorded at the scene show a man brutally stomping on one of the victims injured while lying next to another car, indicated Daily News, without specifying their names .
“This sounds like a whole movie,” said a nearby grocery store worker who watched the violence unfold. “This is quite a movie scene. This happens every two days. It’s shootings all the time, man.”
Wayne Smith was arrested and charged of murder and possession of weapons. Police on Sunday released surveillance footage of another man involved in the fight, asking anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS.
After the rise of armed violence in 2020 and 2021 particularly among young gang members and/or victims, the 2022 started with the same trend, representing a great challenge for the new mayor Eric Adams, former NYPD. According to the latest figures, there were 100 citywide shootings last month, a jump from January 2021 when they registered 76. Those figures also show an increase with respect to 2020 and 2019, when there was 67 and 52 shooting acts, respectively.