Former NYPD Chief Joe Esposito weighs in on officer shootings Biden visit
President Biden will visit New York on Thursday as the city, like many others, grapples with devastating gun violence that has impacted the lives and families of police officers, children and members of the public alike.
President Biden will visit New York on Thursday as the city, like many others, grapples with devastating gun violence that has impacted the lives and families of police officers, children and members of the public.
Biden will travel with Attorney General Merrick Garland and will meet with Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul, among other officials.
The group will first visit New York Police Department (NYPD) headquarters "to discuss the work that federal, state and local law enforcement officials are doing to quickly take guns and repeat shooters off of our streets," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday. They will then head to Queens, where they will meet with community violence interruption groups and intervention leaders, Psaki said.
Biden’s New York City trip falls just one day after the city paid its final respects to fallen NYPD Detective Wilbert Mora, who was laid to rest Wednesday following a funeral service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
Mora and his partner, Detective Jason Rivera, died after they were shot by a domestic violence suspect while responding to a police call in Harlem on Jan. 21. The suspect also died.
On Thursday, the president will face New Yorkers who have experienced a week of crime that has so far included at least eight murders since Sunday, according to NYPD statistics obtained by Fox News. Shootings struck 15 people in total.
Compared to last year, there have been 32.4% more shootings with 31.6% more victims as of Jan. 30. Murders, however, were down by 18.8%.
Here is a look at the shootings and murders that have happened in the past few days:
SATURDAY, JAN. 29
Three shootings were reported on Saturday, with four people shot, the NYPD said. Saturday’s figures were up compared to Jan. 29, 2021, when one person was shot in one incident.
Meanwhile, three people were killed, compared to the one murder reported for the same day last year. The murdered victims were all stabbed to death.
Murder victims include 61-year-old Tracey Sydnor, a Brooklyn pastor for Upper Room Baptist Church. Police said Sydnor was stabbed multiple times by her son, 40-year-old Kenji Francis. Francis was ultimately charged with murder and unlawful activity: dangerous weapon, cops said. Police said the pair have no history of conflict.
Two more people were stabbed to death on Saturday. Anthony Donofrio, 22, was stabbed in the chest during a large fight in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, shortly before 4 a.m.
And around 4:05 a.m. in Manhattan, 22-year-old Miles Gibson was stabbed inside Harbor NYC Rooftop Terrace and Lounge, police said. Gibson, who lived in the Bronx, could not be saved.
SUNDAY, JAN. 30
No shootings or murders were reported on Sunday, according to the NYPD.
TEEN BURGER KING CASHIER SHOT AND KILLED DURING ROBBERY IN MANHATTAN
MONDAY, JAN. 31
Seven people were wounded in six shootings on Monday, up compared to the five shootings and five victims reported on Jan. 31, 2021.
And two people were killed, up from the single murder reported on Jan. 31, 2021.
Both murder victims were shot, police have said. They include 45-year-old Ahmad Perkins, who was discovered with a gunshot wound to the head in front of a Brooklyn home at about 10:40 a.m., police said. Investigators are still searching for the gunman.
And hours later, police received a call around 2 p.m. for a report of a man shot. The victim, who appeared to be in his 20s but was not immediately identified, suffered multiple gunshot wounds, police said. He was rushed to an area hospital, but could not be saved.
Also on Monday, a 14-year-old was shot and a 16-year-old suffered a graze wound during an argument inside a Brooklyn mall, police said. Both victims were expected to survive. Three suspects, ages 18, 19 and 19, were subsequently arrested.
That same day, Mayor Adams met with the city’s five district attorneys to discuss rising gun crime, the offices told Fox News Digital in a joint statement.
"The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the mutually shared goals of keeping New Yorkers safe, particularly from the rising toll of gun crimes. The conversation was wide-ranging, candid and productive," the joint statement reads. "The mayor and district attorneys agreed that, among other things, safety and justice are not mutually exclusive, and must go hand in hand."
TUESDAY, FEB. 1
Three men in their 20s were killed in separate shootings Tuesday. They were among five people shot in four shooting incidents.
Davantay Butts, 26, was found with multiple gunshot wounds on a street near his home in Harlem around 11:15 a.m., according to authorities. He was rushed to a hospital and pronounced dead. A short while later, a 26-year-old woman walked into the hospital on her own with a gunshot wound to the arm. Police said they could not immediately confirm whether she had been injured in the same shooting incident.
NEW YORK CITY SHOOTING LEAVES MAN DEAD IN BROAD DAYLIGHT; WOMAN SHOT IN ARM
At around 2:20 p.m., police found a 22-year-old man shot in the head and knee in Brooklyn after a ShotSpotter activation on Avenue L.
At around 3:45 p.m., police found a 23-year-old man with multiple gunshot wounds just steps from the Apollo Theater, also in Harlem. His identity was being withheld pending notification of his family.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 2
There were two shootings in New York and three victims and one murder.
Early Wednesday morning, authorities said a 22-year-old, off-duty NYPD officer had been shot in Queens in an attempted robbery overnight. He's the city's sixth police officer to have been shot since New Year's Day.
"To see something like this happen repeatedly in our city is unacceptable," said Adams, a former NYPD officer himself who campaigned on a pro-law enforcement platform.
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Police arrested two teenage suspects in connection with the case, 18-year-old Jayare Robinson, on a robbery charge, and Chad Collie, 19, who faces charges of attempted murder, robbery, assault, criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment.
The officer is expected to recover.
By Feb. 2, there had been 106 shooting incidents across the Big Apple, with 119 victims. Although the homicide rate was slightly lower than the same span in 2021, the gap appeared to be narrowing, with 31 murders this year compared to 34.
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