Shooter Apologizes
Last Friday afternoon, a 22-year-old man walked into a barber shop on Andrews Avenue near Fordham Road. There was a bit of a wait and the barbers told him to come back in a few minutes. The young man turned around, walked outside and headed slowly down the block.

Soon, an intense chase between two men headed straight towards him. The trailing runner was carrying a gun and fired it at the man he was chasing. Instead of hitting his intended target, the shooter blasted the innocent bystander, who had just emerged from the barber shop, in the leg.

Far from a heartless sort, the shooter stopped his pursuit to check on the innocent man in need of a haircut. He apologized and then jumped into a gray Dodge Charger and took off.

An onlooker helped the victim into a gypsy cab, who took him to St. Barnabas, where he is in stable condition.

Police say they’ve compiled video tapes from security cameras and are looking over them to identify the shooter.

Teenager Stabbed in Groin
While walking down East 190th Street on June 12, a 16-year-old Hispanic male was approached by a group of about five or six other male Hispanics. A verbal dispute ended quickly when the group jumped the 16-year-old and stabbed him in the groin with a knife.

Police say the paramedics took him to St. Barnabas and that the injuries were not life-threatening. The investigation is ongoing.

Charges in Perry Ave. Murder
In a follow-up to a story earlier this year in the Norwood News, police say they have captured and charged two suspects in the murder of Luis Fernandez, 49, who was stabbed to death in his home at 3136 Perry Ave.

At the time in late February, police said the prime suspect was a relative who they had apprehended in Florida, but were waiting to extradite him.

On Tuesday, police announced that they had apprehended two suspects, Luis Gonzalez, 30, of Tampa, Florida and Maria Rodriguez who lived with the victim at 3136 Perry Ave. It’s unknown if Rodriguez is related to the victim.

Both suspects have been charged with murder.

Concourse Home Invasion
Last Tuesday, at about 10:30 p.m., a man police identified as a male Hispanic between 18 and 25 broke into a first-floor apartment at 2715 Grand Concourse, where three females were inside taking care of their 2-year-old sister.

The intruder tied the women up with duct tape and demanded to know where the money was. They didn’t know what he was talking about. After a brief search of the premises, the intruder left without taking any property.

One of the women, the oldest sister, managed to free herself and call police. No injuries were reported.

Police said the perpetrator was obviously looking for something specific and thought there was money in the apartment. He was wearing a blue shirt and blue baseball cap. Police say they have some promising leads and are looking for a suspect.

2 Taxis, 2 Loaded Guns

In two separate instances over the past week and a half, police discovered two taxicab riders toting fully-loaded pistols.

On June 19, police noticed a cab driver failing to signal while taking a turn. While pulling him over, they observed the passenger in the back seat dropping a gun onto the floor of the vehicle. It turned out to be a fully-loaded .44-caliber automatic pistol.

The cab driver thanked police profusely as he had noticed the man carrying a gun and feared he might be robbed or worse.

The suspect, identified as Jose Martinez, 27, of Manhattan was charged with carrying a loaded firearm, a felony offense.

In another case, early Saturday morning, police responded to a call saying that a male had been shot at 3260 Hull Ave. in Norwood. The suspects were described as two Hispanic males.

A patrolling officer then pulled over a cab nearby at 211th Street and Putnam Place, right near Woodlawn Cemetery, carrying two Hispanic males. One of them happened to be carrying a concealed .380-caliber pistol.

Police say they never found anyone who had been shot, but that the caller may have known these two young men were carrying a gun and called in to say someone had been shot to increase the urgency level of the response.