New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio promised Monday that the “heartbreaking” death of a one-year-old boy at a family meal over the weekend “is not something we can afford in our city.”
Davell Gardner’s tragic death in Brooklyn on Sunday night comes as the Big Apple has been dealing with a surge in violence in recent weeks.
This weekend alone, there were 28 shooting incidents and 35 victims in all five city counties, compared to just five incidents and six victims during the same period Friday through Sunday last year, the New York Police Department. he tells Fox News.
“Waking up this morning and knowing that a 1-year-old boy was shot to death on the streets of our city is very painful,” De Blasio told reporters Monday, before keeping a moment of silence for Davell. “It is not acceptable, it is not something we can look away from.” It is something that we must tackle and stop, and it is just horrible. ”
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De Blasio described Davell as “just beginning his life and his life was full of possibilities and now he’s gone.”
“This is not something we can allow in our city,” said the mayor. “And it’s heartbreaking. It’s heartbreaking for many reasons and it starts with the fact that there are so many weapons out there and that it’s a New York tragedy and a national tragedy. “
Investigators say Davell Gardner died at a local hospital after suffering a gunshot wound to the stomach at a family meal.
Gardner and three other adult male victims were beaten after two men walked onto the sidewalk meeting in Brooklyn just before midnight and began shooting from across Raymond Bush Park, according to police.
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His motive is unclear at this time, and as of Monday morning, no arrests have been made.
“We cried with the family of one-year-old boy Davell Gardner, who was senselessly murdered last night in Bed-Stuy,” wrote Borough President Eric Adams in a tweet. “Our hearts are broken by the lost opportunity of this innocent baby.”
“When we say ‘Black Lives Matter,’ we include our children,” added Adams. “Davell’s life mattered.”
New York City has seen an increase in violence in recent weeks, following a city council vote that included $ 837 million in budget cuts and reallocations of funds involving its police department.
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New York police say the increase in violence is attributed to the first releases of COVID-19 from city jails and the recent police reform. Last Monday, de Blasio blamed the judicial system and the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic.
From the beginning of the year to July 4, there were 530 shootings in New York City. There were 350 shootings during the same period last year, police said.
There have not been as many shootings in New York City since 1996, adds Fox 5 New York.
Regarding Davell’s death, De Blasio said: “You can never take your eyes off something like this and be insensitive to it.”
“Because it goes against everything we believe as New Yorkers, we cannot allow this to happen in our city,” he added.
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When asked by a journalist Monday about the seizures of weapons, De Blasio said “over the years, really, very powerful efforts to get weapons off the streets.”
“Our officers know that it is pre-eminent to take weapons off the streets and we have to do it intelligently. And many of the things that work best is to make community members allies in that effort because many times they have the information that is the best way to get weapons off the streets, “he added.” So it’s constantly going to be a focus. We’re going to do more. We have to keep making adjustments, we’re not going to live this way. “
David Aaro and Courtney Crawford of Fox News contributed to this report.
