12 AUGUST 5, 2021 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Caught in the crossfi re
A beautiful summer night in
Queens on Saturday turned
bloody when two gunmen went
on the attack, opening fi re on people
outside a barber shop, a restaurant and
a laundromat.
When the smoke cleared, 10 people
lay wounded. Fortunately, they’re all
recovering from their injuries, and
the NYPD is on the case looking for
the culprits.
Early in the investigation, it became
clear to investigators just what they
were dealing with. Chief of Detectives
James Essig described the shooting as
“a brazen, coordinated attack” — the
apparent work of street gang members.
Indeed, police learned that three of
the 10 shooting victims were members
of the Trinitarios street gang, and
the apparent intended targets of the
rampage.
But while the shooters targeted
three specifi c individuals, they injured
seven “innocent bystanders” in the
process. The shooting was a wanton,
reckless act that further struck fear
Photo by Dean Moses
into a city already in angst over the
year-long rise in gun violence.
Indeed, as Essig pointed out, this
is part of an all-too-familiar pattern
of gang shootings in the city. Gang
members blast away at their rivals
on a street, usually at night and from
a vehicle of some kind, fi ring at their
subjects indiscriminately.
And too oft en, in the process, other
individuals with nothing to do with
whatever beef led to the shooting are
caught in the crossfi re and wounded.
This must stop.
We know the NYPD’s stepping up its
eff orts to get guns off the streets and
lock armed individuals up. We know
that the de Blasio Administration has
promoted alternative enforcement
programs such as violence interrupter
groups and youth programs to give
people a reason to steer clear of gangs.
But the public must come forward
with information and cooperate with
police to lock up the bastards responsible
for this mass shooting, and other
episodes of gang violence in New York
City.
Too oft en, the NYPD gets little cooperation
when it comes to fi nding the
shooters and bringing them to justice.
We get the instinctive fear of cooperation,
but as long as the shooters remain
on the streets, they will continue to put
whole communities at risk of injury
and death.
As long as gang violence continues
to grip parts of New York, we are all
at risk.
Call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS.
All calls are kept confi dential.
EDITORIAL
ESTABLISHED 1908
Co-Publishers
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JOSHUA SCHNEPS
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BILL PARRY
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ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
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C O R R E C T I O N
In the July 26 print issue, we ran an op-ed by outgoing MTA Chair Patrick Foye with the wrong headline. The
headline should have read, “A farewell message from the outgoing MTA chair and CEO.” We regret the mistake.
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