McKinley Shooting Still A Mystery

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Published on November 06, 2011, 7:27 pm
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Several days after a shooting at McKinley Houses, a New York City Housing Authority development in the south Bronx, police are still trying to determine the identity of the gunman, according to a police source.

The shooting, which took place on the afternoon of November 2, did not result in any known injuries.

Wallace Diamond, president of the McKinley Houses Tenant Association, was meeting in his office with resident Rafael Gonzalez to discuss a broken pipe on Wednesday afternoon when their conversation was interrupted by the sound of gunfire. Diamond, Gonzalez, and Tony Moe, a friend of Diamond’s who was also there, all immediately hid under Diamond’s desk for protection. Moments later, said Diamond, a female resident ran in “screaming and crying.”

Although the exact number of shots could not be confirmed, Diamond said he heard seven. The sunny, tranquil Wednesday afternoon had taken an unexpected turn.

Once the gunfire ceased, Diamond went outside to see what had happened. He found that the only casualties were the front doors of 730 East 163rd Street, Building 3, which was hit by several bullets. He saw no sign of a shooter.

Diamond called the police as soon as he heard the shots, and officers from Police Service Area (PSA) 7 arrived roughly 20 minutes later, he said. Overall, he was not satisfied with the police response.

The cops didn’t do anything,” he said. “[They] looked around and left.”

The Community Affairs Unit of PSA 7 declined to comment.

Gun violence has previously been a problem at McKinley, said Diamond. However, he was surprised by this incident, because it occurred on a weekday afternoon when several people were outside, and because it seemed the shooter was simply aiming at the building.

“In 49 years of living here, I’ve never experienced anything like this before,” said Diamond.

 

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Jonas Bronck is the pseudonym under which we publish and manage the content and operations of The Bronx Daily.™ | Bronx.com - the largest daily news publication in the borough of "the" Bronx with over 1.5 million annual readers. Publishing under the alias Jonas Bronck is our humble way of paying tribute to the person, whose name lives on in the name of our beloved borough.