STREAM EXCLUSIVE ORIGINALS

In New York City, 25 Shot – Three Dead – in One Weekend

It was an unusually violent 48 hours in New York with 25 shootings that left three people dead.

Gun violence rocked New York City as 25 people were shot in a 48-hour period in mayhem that touched four of the city’s five boroughs.
Over the last weekend, the shootings resulted in the death of a 21-year-old man in the Bronx, Ivan Martinez, and the wounding of an 11-year-old girl, who was left paralyzed by a shooting.
A second man, a 40-year-old whose name was not disclosed by the police, was shot in East Harlem. Shortly after, in another incident, Damon Powell, 25, was killed outside of the public housing complex where he lived in Brooklyn.
Also in Brooklyn, 11-year-old Tayloni Mazyck was shot by a teenager who opened fire at members of a rival gang, police said. The bullet traveled through her neck and lodged in her spine.
The rash of violence was particularly shocking for a city whose leaders take pride in having one of the lowest rates of shootings and murders for a major American city. Staten Island was the only borough where no shootings took place over the weekend.
What’s more, it comes in the final months of the administration of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who has placed his efforts and money behind a national campaign to strengthen gun control laws.
In fact, the topic of the weekend’s gun violence seeped in the New York mayoral race on Monday, when a group of activists and elected officials held a press conference challenging the mayoral candidates to propose solutions to gun violence.
The event included Tamika D. Mallory, the executive director of the National Action Network, as well as New York City Councilman Jumaane Williams, a Democrat from Brooklyn.
The weekend violence represented about 5 percent of the 440 shootings in New York so far in 2013. That figure is 23 percent lower than the 574 people shot in New York in the same period last year.

BET National News - Keep up to date with breaking news stories from around the nation, including headlines from the hip hop and entertainment world. Click here to subscribe to our newsletter. 

Get ready for the BET Experience, featuring Beyoncé, Snoop DoggR. Kelly, Erykah BaduKendrick Lamar and many more. Go here for more details and info on how to buy tickets. Register now to attend free film screenings, celebrity basketball games and more.

(Photo:  Jonathan Fickies/Getty Images)

Latest News

Subscribe for BET Updates

Provide your email address to receive our newsletter.


By clicking Subscribe, you confirm that you have read and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge our Privacy Policy. You also agree to receive marketing communications, updates, special offers (including partner offers) and other information from BET and the Paramount family of companies. You understand that you can unsubscribe at any time.