THE CRIME SCENE AT 2158 Aqueduct Avenue in the University Heights section of The Bronx on May 28, 2026, after a shooting in which a 23-year-old woman died. Video by Síle Moloney

A 23-year-old woman has died after she was shot in in the University Heights section of The Bronx, police said.

 

An NYPD spokesperson said the shooting occurred around midnight on Wednesday, May 27, at 2158 Aqueduct Avenue, the location of Aqueduct Lands Playground, which was cordoned off by police along with both an interior, corner section of the playground adjacent to another cordoned off section of Aqueduct Avenue, outside the playground. Police later said the call was received at 00.10 a.m. on Thursday, May 28.

 

The spokesperson continued, “We have a female, 23, shot in the left eye, taken to St. Barnabas Hospital by EMS, where she was pronounced deceased.”

 

She added that there were no arrests. “I don’t have a description for you [for a suspect] at this time,” she said. “Everything is still under investigation.”

 

The deceased was later identified as Reyna Caceres from the University Heights section of The Bronx.

An apparent large music speaker which appeared to be connected to a cable, what looked like a black sweatshirt / hoodie / jacket, a red pouch with a zipper, a Target shopping bag, a hookah pipe, a plastic cup, and some red cone markers, presumably marking the location of shell casings, were seen on the sidewalk behind a cordoned off crime scene section of Aqueduct Avenue outside Aqueduct Lands Playground

 

The gate to the playground had also been cordoned off by police along with an interior section of the playground located adjacent to the exterior cordoned off crime scene outside the playground on Aqueduct Avenue.

 

The red cone markers were seen both inside and outside the playground.

 

A helicopter could be heard seemingly circling over the north central Bronx in the early hours of Thursday morning.

It’s unknown if it was a police helicopter and whether or not it related to a potential search for suspects following the shooting.

 

As we were making our way to the crime scene in the early hours of May 28, a man standing outside a residential building on nearby Creston Avenue, between 182nd Street and 181st Street, smoking and speaking in Spanish, asked Norwood News if we had seen a “lady” running down the block from 181st Street towards 182nd Street. We said we had not.

 

On arrival at the crime scene, Norwood News spoke to a group of people, some male and some female, some of whom were seated on benches close to the playground area and some of whom were drinking. We asked them if they knew what happened.

 

Two men said they heard multiple shots earlier and then declined to comment further. We also spoke to some local workers and residents in and around the area but they had no knowledge of what had happened.

 

We will share any further updates we receive.

 

Major crime statistics for the 46th Precinct, where the shooting took place, are attached.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, on X @NYPDTips.

All calls are strictly confidential.