Moment man opens fire in ‘mistaken identity’ shooting outside East Village bar in latest example of New York’s surging gun violence
Shocking security video shows the moment a gunman opens fire outside a bar in the East Village of New York City, narrowly missing a man who police stay he had mistakenly targeted, as the Big Apple continues to face a growing crime wave.
The gunman could be seen in the video standing in the middle of Fifth Street, wearing sweats and a mask, as the victim runs into the Ace Bar at around 11.10 p.m. Monday night.
The footage was released by the New York Police Department on Wednesday.
After the would-be victim ducks into the bar, the gunman could be seen firing his weapon, sending glass from the bar's façade flying, as he runs away.
Police say the bar-crawler was wrongly targeted, and may have been misidentified as another person who had already fled the scene.
He did not meet with police after the incident, they said, and the suspect was still on the loose as of Wednesday. He was last seen wearing gray jogging clothes.
Video released by the New York Police Department Wednesday shows a would-be victim ducking into the Ace Bar at around 11.10 p.m. Monday night, as a gunman tried to pursue him
After the man safely ducked inside, the suspect started firing, sending glass from the bar's façade flying
The gunman was standing brazenly in the middle of the street wearing gray sweats
The incident took place outside the Ace Bar on East Fifth Street, seen here
The shooting comes amid a surge of gun violence in New York City.
Overall, shootings have increased nearly 15 percent from last year - with 942 incidents so far in 2021 compared with 820 in the same period last year.
The number of shooting victims is also up by around 10 percent, from 1,000 in the year to August 8 last year to 1,109 in the same period this year.
Early Sunday morning, a gunman shot three men sitting in a car that the NYPD said was damaged during a car accident in Brooklyn, and then opened fire at a party of 100 to 150 people at an event space down the block.
Two of the men in the car died - Bronx resident Nicholas Palmer and Queens resident Novada Bailey, both 36. A third unidentified man is in critical condition and 'fighting for his life,' the NYPD said during a Sunday afternoon press conference.
At least two other people were shot and injured during the incident at the Brooklyn Garden Event Space in East New York.
One victim was rushed to a hospital; the other victim drove himself to a hospital about 24 miles away in Westchester County.
And just a few days before, on August 4, a woman who was talking to a group of people in Crown Heights was shot and killed at point-blank range.
Delia Johnson's family later said they recognize the killer as a family friend, but police have not yet arrested anyone and a motive is still unknown.
Crime rates throughout New York City have been increasing over last year
One of the five shooting victims is lifted into an ambulance early Sunday morning
Police tape off the scene in the wake of Sunday morning's deadly double-shooting
Shocking video shows the female assassin raising a gun to a woman on a Brooklyn sidewalk and shooting her dead. The victim, named by police as Delia Johnson, 42, was speaking to a group on a stoop in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, when she was shot in the head.
Shootings are not the only crimes on the rise in New York City.
Homicides are also up 0.8 percent when compared with the same time last year, official figures show.
Hate crimes are up a shocking 101.7 percent, from 172 to 347.
Rape incidents, meanwhile, are up 6 percent as of August 8, with felony assaults up 5.5 percent and grand larcenies up 1.2 percent.
And grand larcenies from vehicles is up a whopping 21.6 percent.
Despite these staggering statistics, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced last week that his 'Safe Summer' program has driven down murder and gun attacks in the city.
The mayor debuted the Safe Summer program in April as a way to end gun violence by creating disincentives for young people looking to turn to guns by offering them positive alternatives.
During his daily briefing on Thursday, de Blasio proudly proclaimed that the 'Safe Summer' program has been effective and said in July the NYPD curved violent crime
During his daily briefing last Thursday, de Blasio proudly proclaimed that the program has been effective and said in the month of July the NYPD saw 'extraordinary successes' to curve violent crime.
Listing statistics from July, de Blasio noted that the NYPD made 383 gun arrests in July alone, up 133.5 percent compared to last July, the mayor said, while gun arrests in general have gone up 44.5 percent in 2021.
According to the mayor, the summer month of July is usually one of the most violent in the city but the NYPD 'rose to the challenge' and was able to suppress gun violence and executed an impressive number of gang takedowns.
'The gang takedowns mean taking a lot of bad guys off of the streets and at the same time a lot of shooters off the streets, this is crucial,' de Blasio noted.
Overall since the safe summer program was launched in May, murders have gone down 26 percent, shootings decreased 10 percent and shooting victims are down 11 percent.
'There is more to do,' he said, 'but the NYPD is moving and making an impact.'