Three shot in the south Bronx
Bronx reverend holds vigil and prays for peace following the shooting
BY TODD MAISEL
Reverend Oswald Denis of St. Athanasius
Church on Southern Boulevard
in the south Bronx knelt down
and briefl y prayed Monday night, a
large wooden cross hanging from his
neck, at the vigil illuminated with
yellow and white candles splayed out
in front of an apartment building on
East 157th Street.
He had come there not for the memorial
that had been set for Priscilla
Vasquez, 25, murdered on Sept. 12, but
rather for three more young men shot
on Nov. 9 — victims of Trinitarios gang
wars according to police offi cials — in
one of many gang battles raging on city
streets this night and for the past year.
“When is it going to stop?” Denis
shouted towards the hazy dark sky, occasionally
lit by red and blue lights fl aring
from nearby patrol cars at the most
recent shooting on that street.
On Nov. 9 at 5:55 p.m., three young
men were shot by young men in a speeding
black sedan in front of 432 East
157th St., a street that neighbors say is
no stranger to gun violence.
In this instance, a 25-year-old man
was shot twice in the torso, a 21-year-old
hit in the leg, and a 20-year-old struck in
the hip. All were rushed to Lincoln Hospital,
where the oldest victim was said
to be hanging on to life.
Police searched the area, marking
the site with orange cones where
spent shells were found, and fl ipping
through trash bags for clues as to who f
ired the shots.
It was just one incident overnight
in which a total of eight people were
shot citywide.
“I got a call, I have parishioners
here, so I’m just doing my thing – I just
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,32 NOVEMBER 13-19, 2020 BTR
Three young men were shot and wounded on East 157th Street off Morris Avenue in violent
South Bronx, memorials to those killed in the past are lit with candles and murals.
Photo by Todd Maisel)
keep praying because it just keeps going
on and on and on,” Denis sighed as he
gazed down the street at another memorial
to a young man at the opposite corner,
who was also shot dead.
Police offi cials told the reverend that
Monday night’s shooting appeared to be
the work of the Trinitarios, a Dominican
gang associated with drug dealing
and shootings throughout the Bronx.
The same gang was responsible for the
2018 machete murder of killed 15-yearold
Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz on
June 20, 2018, believing he was someone
else. Five members of that gang hacked
Feliz to death inside a bodega near this
shooting location.
“We are sick and tired, we’re fed up.
We need to get these guns off the streets.
Our children are at risk and our children
are dying,” Denis said. “We are
killing our own people. Put the guns
down, in God’s name.
He said gang members want “acceptance”
and “they are looking for love.”
“They want someone to say ‘hey,
I got your back’, but they don’t really
have your back,” Denis said. “Its deceiving
and conniving and the best solution
is divine intervention. I tell them
to put the guns down, stop the rivalry
and repent your sins. It’s also a little
bit of pot, weed, and then because of it
there is big chaos. I’m not saying this
particular case was the issue, but most
of the time, that is what happens, it’s
over nothing.”
Nearby, two young men emerged
from a building at the scene of the Bronx
triple shooting. One man grinned but
then, fl ashed a scowl in anger saying,
“what are you doing here anyway?”
“These kids just don’t get it,” said
a woman standing nearby at that moment.
“All they know are their gangs
and they just want to settle their business
without anyone in the way.”
More bullets fl y
At 12:24 a.m. on Nov. 10, a 29-year-old
man walked into Jacobi Medical Center
in the Bronx with a gunshot wound
to the buttocks. The victim told police
from the 43rd Precinct and PSA8 that
he was shot on the basketball court at
1715 Bruckner Blvd. inside the Justice
Sotomayor Houses.
Police say the victim heard the shots
and felt pain and never saw the assailants,
also believed to be gang members.
Shots fi red suspect
The NYPD is asking the public’s to
identify a man in surveillance photos
who is wanted for questioning in connection
with fi ring shots that occurred
on Oct. 21 in the Bronx.
Police from the 42nd Precinct say
that at 3:25 a.m., a man fi red shots in
front of 1264 Franklin Avenue, in Morrisania,
the Bronx.
Read more at bxtimes.com.
/bxtimes.com