Four people, two of them teenagers, were shot yesterday in a Queens park when they were caught in the crossfire of rival groups shooting at each other.
According to the NYPD, several people were in London Planetree Playground at the intersection of 95th St. and Atlantic Ave. , Ozone Park neighborhood, when the two groups entered the park around 6: 20 pm yesterday. As the bullets flew through the green zone, the attendees ran, including small children and parents.
None of the four injured were the target of the gunmen, but were hit by stray bullets, according to the sources . A fifteen-year-old girl was injured in the leg and a young man from 12 years on the back. The others shot were two men from 11 and 32 years, impacted in the legs. All were hospitalized in stable condition.
“We were trying to calm down the children because they saw people being shot in front of them…here in the park where they play”
Sam Esposito, president of “Ozone Park Residents Block Association”
The police were checking the hospitals in search of other possible victims of the hail of bullets. “It was chaotic,” summed up Sam Esposito, president of the Ozone Park Residents Block Association. “The children were crying. The parents were crying… We were trying to calm the children down because they saw people being shot in front of them… here in the park where they play.”
He added that the “Latin Kings” gang used to meet in that park, but in recent years a new group has taken over, plaguing the area with crime.
One of the groups of gunmen got into a black Mercedes-Benz with no front license plate and sped west on nearby 95th Av.
No arrests have been made. Anyone with information should call 1-800-577-TIPS (8477 ) and in Spanish 1-888-57-CLUE (74782). Also through crimestoppers.nypdonline.org or by text message to 274637 (CRIMES), followed by TIP577. All communications are strictly confidential.
In NYC, armed violence continues unleashed in 2022 especially with young gunmen and victims . Just on Sunday people were injured in 9 reported shootings around the city.
It is a great challenge to former NYPD Mayor Eric Adams, who since taking office in January has encountered obstacles within his own Democratic Party and Black Lives Matter (BLM) leaders to confront the crisis.
In August, Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Adams celebrated that in front of 888 shootings had decreased 11%, also citing an increase of 104% in seizures of illegal weapons.
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