A 20-year-old mother pushing her infant in a stroller on a sidewalk in New York City’s Upper East Side Wednesday evening was executed by a gunman wearing a black hoodie who fired one shot point blank to the back of her head and then fled the scene. The victim’s three-month-old baby was not harmed. The attack took place at East 95th Street and Lexington Avenue around 8:30 p.m.
New York Mayor Eric Adams blamed the gun and not the criminals who rule the city’s streets thanks to the rolling back of the successful crime fighting tactics of Mayors Giuliani and Bloomberg that brought a two decade renaissance to the city.
“We lost a 20 year old woman on the Upper East Side tonight. She was pushing a stroller when a gunman took her life. More guns in our city means more lives lost. It means more babies crying as those who love them lie dead. We cannot allow this epidemic to keep claiming lives.”
We lost a 20 year old woman on the Upper East Side tonight.
She was pushing a stroller when a gunman took her life.
More guns in our city means more lives lost. It means more babies crying as those who love them lie dead.
We cannot allow this epidemic to keep claiming lives.
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) June 30, 2022
New York City Council Member Julie Menin said the murder may be domestic violence, “On scene of horrific shooting of a mother with her baby at 95th and Lexington with @NYCMayor @NYPDPC @MarkLevineNYC @KeithPowersNYC. The mother has died and baby is ok. May involve domestic violence and is being investigated but hasn’t been confirmed…To think that this incident happened in front of a school with a mother pushing her baby in a stroller is beyond comprehension. My prayers are with the victim’s family. This tragedy is simply unspeakable and this violence must stop.”
To think that this incident happened in front of a school with a mother pushing her baby in a stroller is beyond comprehension. My prayers are with the victim’s family. This tragedy is simply unspeakable and this violence must stop.
— Julie Menin (@JulieMenin) June 30, 2022
Earlier, Menin reported, “We have just been notified by @NYPD19Pct that a woman has been shot on East 95th Street and Lex while she was with her baby. The mother is in grave condition at Metropolitan Hospital and the baby is reportedly okay. This incident happened 30 min ago and details are breaking (1/2)…I will update as I continue to receive them from the police. I am praying for this victim and I’m devastated by this unrelenting and senseless violence.”
I will update as I continue to receive them from the police. I am praying for this victim and I’m devastated by this unrelenting and senseless violence.
— Julie Menin (@JulieMenin) June 30, 2022
Video of the crime scene:
#BREAKING Woman shot in head & killed on East 95th Street between Lexington Ave & 3rd Avenue
NYPD says she was pushing her baby in stroller when man shot her. Appears to be domestic…. Not random. @NYCMayor on scene. Having news conf shortly #nyc #nypd #crime #guns pic.twitter.com/K6wQJeyaKq— Linda Schmidt (@LSchmidtFox5) June 30, 2022
WCBS-TV reports the woman victim had a Staten Island ID.
Overall crime in New York City has skyrocketed, reported the Daily Beast (excerpt)
Overall crime in New York has skyrocketed in recent months, rising 27.8 percent in May 2022 as compared to the same month last year, fueled largely by grand larcenies, burglaries, and robberies, according to data released by the New York Police Department earlier this month.
The rise in crime has ramped up pressure on Adams, a former police officer who ran successfully for mayor on a platform of cracking down on lawlessness. He recently appointed a gun-violence czar; released a 15-page “Blueprint to End Gun Violence”; and instituted solo patrols for cops on the subway, where crime is surging at a higher rate.
At the same time, Adams has tried to place blame on prosecutors and judges for allegedly being soft on crime.
…Murders and shooting rates have been gradually progressing downward, however. Incidents of gun violence in the city last month were down 31.4 percent as compared to May 2021, departmental data indicated.
Those numbers have been seized on by Adams’ office, which hopes to change the trajectory of a city that recorded 1,562 shootings in 2021—the highest number in 15 years. In 2020, it racked up 1,531 incidents, more than double the previous year’s figure.
There have been 197 murders in New York City this year so far. Four hundred eight-eight were recorded throughout all of 2021, and the city is on track to end 2022 with 11 percent fewer homicides, according to LX News.