NYPD deploys more police to Harlem after daytime shooting injures 7-year-old
The NYPD is assigning 12 officers to footposts along 145th Street near Bradhurst Avenue in Hamilton Heights after a 7-year-old girl was shot and injured there Monday afternoon, police said.
The deployment comes as some residents express increased concerns about safety in Harlem and Hamilton Heights after several recent daytime shootings in the area. While crime is trending down, according to NYPD data, the uptick in daytime violence has put neighbors on edge — and the shooting of a small child added to those worries.
"It got worse," said longtime resident Keith Gavins. "Every time you step out the door, you're in danger. It's just these gang members getting out of hand."
Ryan Bauer-Walsh, who runs the Hamilton Heights neighborhood Facebook page, said he's been pushing for more police resources for a while.
"The reason I started the community group was so that we could have like a forum for us to discuss how to help situations," he said. "We just keep telling them there are problems."
But he said the news of more foot patrols was a significant win.
"Those are going to be people that are on the beat, walking around the streets," he said. "They will know us and we will know all of them."
The intersection where Fatou Keita was shot straddles the NYPD's 30th and 32nd Precincts, though officials said the shooting happened in the 32nd Precinct.
Police data shows the 30th Precinct, west of Bradhurst Avenue, has had six shootings so far this year through Sunday, which is far lower than the number of shootings in adjacent precincts.
The 32nd Precinct, which encompasses a swath of northeastern Harlem east of Bradhurst Avenue, has reported 16 shootings so far this year through Sunday, according to the NYPD. That's down from 23 shootings by the same point last year.
According to NYPD data , three other shootings have been reported so far this year close to where the girl was shot. Two of those shootings happened during the daytime, including a shooting at 11 a.m. last Saturday, just two days before Keita was struck.
Joaquin Soto-Jerome, 21, said he feels safe overall in the neighborhood where he grew up, but acknowledged ongoing issues with youth violence.
"I do know there's still certain gang activity that happens. I know there's a lot of young people that are causing a lot of this havoc, so we gotta figure out a place where they can just stay and play basketball," he said.
Police said a stray bullet struck Keita just before 3 p.m. on Monday while she was walking with her father on 145th Street and Bradhurst Avenue. Surveillance video from a nearby building that was posted on social media shows a hail of gunfire that sent pedestrians scrambling on the busy sidewalk and shattered the window of a nearby Starbucks.
Keita was whisked to the hospital, where she underwent surgery to repair her diaphragm, stomach and colon, according to court documents.
Police arrested 19-year-old Daniel Idowu and a 17-year-old boy as suspects in the Monday shooting. Both were charged with attempted murder, assault and criminal weapons possession.
The criminal complaint in the case alleges that both Idowu and the 17-year-old fired a total of nine rounds toward several people at the Starbucks. Keita, who was not an intended target, was the only one hit.
Police said Idowu lives just a half-mile from where the shooting happened. No one answered the door at his listed address when a reporter knocked on Wednesday, and his lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The 17-year-old boy's father declined to comment when reached by phone on Thursday, and the boy's lawyer did not immediately respond to an inquiry.
Bauer-Walsh, the Hamilton Heights Facebook page moderator, said he was skeptical that police alone could solve the neighborhood's safety issues, but added that he felt optimistic after meeting with the NYPD.
"I saw the officers doing their route and their checks yesterday," he said. "But I also saw in that same amount of time a guy shooting up in front of the subway, not more than 75 feet from those officers. So, you know, it's one of those things where it's going to take some time."
