Five people were shot to death citywide during a bloody 11-hour span, the NYPD said Tuesday.
No arrests have been made in any of the slayings.
The deadly mayhem began just past noon Monday when a 48-year-old man was shot in the back in a bodega on White Plains Road near E. 228th St. in the Williamsbridge section of the Bronx.
Medics rushed him to Jacobi Medical Center, where he later died. His name was not immediately released.
A little more than two hours later, a 27-year-old man was shot in the neck in the as he sat outside his apartment building on Longfellow Ave. near Freeman St. in the Bronx.
The shooter walked up and fired two shots at point-blank range about 2:15 p.m., according to police. He was hit in the head and, according to a witness, in the neck.
“The gash was wide open,” said the witness, who declined to give his name.
Paramedics rushed the victim to St. Barnabas Hospital, where officials pronounced him dead but another witness, Charlotte White, said he perished “gasping for air” in her arms on Longfellow Ave.
“Poor baby, he was gone,” she said.
The shooter, who was spotted wearing a white shirt and black pants, fled the scene on foot heading south toward Freeman St., according to police.
About than three hours later, at 5:47 p.m. in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn a 16-year-old boy was fatally shot in the head.
Two gunmen wearing black COVID-style face masks approached the victim on Marcus Garvey Blvd. near Willoughby Ave. and fired three shots at point-blank range, police said.
About 9: 55 p.m., a 38-year-old man was shot in the head on the sidewalk in front of an apartment building on W. 140th St. near Frederick Douglass Blvd. in Harlem, cops said.
Back in the Bronx, Kevin Roberts, 56, was shot multiple times in the upper body on Simpson St. near E. 163rd St. in Longwood just past 11 p.m. during a confrontation with the gunman, cops said.
Medics rushed Roberts to Lincoln Hospital but he could not be saved.
Roberts, who lived a half-mile away from where he was shot, had 11 prior arrests, including for drugs, assault and grand larceny, according to cops.
Friends and relatives spoke highly of Roberts, calling him a good man whose domineering stature was often mistaken for malice.
“He’s a big intimidating guy but he’s lovable,” said a friend who identified himself as Tru Black. “He was a good brother to me.”
Robert’ nephew, who asked not to be named, called the victim, “a beautiful person, kind-hearted and loving.”
But others called him a bully known for yelling at his building’s super and acting so aggressive some kids were afraid of him.
“He was always causing chaos,” one woman said. “He wasn’t much of a friendly neighbor.”
Another 10 people were shot citywide Monday but survived.
About 12:45 a.m., three men were shot and wounded at a Queens barbecue in Rockaway Beach, police said.
The victims, a 56-year-old hit in the arm, a 37-year-old struck in the upper body and a 21-year-old shot in the buttocks, are all in stable condition at St. John’s Episcopal Hospital and are expected to recover.
Police said it wasn’t clear if the shooter was aiming at the victims or someone else.
At 9 p.m., a gunman opened fire at Riverside State Park, wounding three innocent bystanders, all women struck in their legs.
Despite the gunplay, shootings are down 35% in the city so far this year, with 508 people shot through Sunday compared to 680 by this time last year.
Murders are down 10%, with 177 people slain this year compared to 197 by this time last year.