Police are looking for a scooter-riding gunman who opened fire on a crowd sitting outside a Fordham Manor building, as they celebrated America’s independence.

 

Police said the incident unfolded at 11:51 p.m. on Monday, July 4 when officers received a call about a person who had been shot outside 2705 Bainbridge Avenue, near East 196th Street.

 

Officers from the 52nd Precinct arrived and discovered a 23-year-old male victim had been shot once in the abdomen by a scooter riding gunman. The assailant fled the scene, and the still-unidentified victim was transported to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he was listed in “stable” condition.

 

Police reported no arrests, and no description of the suspect was immediately available.

 

According to one resident of the building, the gunman had lived on the block and is now on the run from police. Asked how the victim was, the resident replied, “So, so…not really [good].” She added that she believed the victim was also shot in the arm.

 

Five other shootings were reported across The Bronx on the Fourth of July holiday, which left at least one man dead and seven others wounded. Less than an hour into the holiday, at 12:54 a.m. a 33-year-old male was shot as he sat on a bench at Webster Avenue and East 170th Street in Claremont Village. The victim was expected to survive, and police continue to search for the shooter.

 

At 5:50 p.m. police said a 24-year-old man was walking his dog at 775 Ehele Avenue in Woodstock, when a person shot him in the leg from a “dark colored” vehicle. The unidentified victim was also expected to survive, and again, there were no arrests nor any description of the perpetrator.

 

At 8:45 p.m. police were called to Bruckner Boulevard and Alexander Avenue in Mott Haven where police discovered a 35-year-old man who had been shot in the chest and hand after an apparent dispute with the shooter. The victim remains in critical condition at Lincoln Hospital and police continue to attempt to identify the perpetrator.

 

At 10:26 p.m. police were called to Prospect Avenue in the Belmont section, after three men were shot outside a residential building on the avenue. John Edwards, 62, was hit in the chest just steps away from his home. He died a short time later at St. Barnabas Hospital. Police say a 23-year-old male was shot in the right leg and a 26-year-old male was shot in the right arm during the same incident. Both men were also transported to St. Barnabas Hospital. Police would later release surveillance video of the shooter’s escape vehicle.

 

Officers from the 48th Precinct reported a person shot sometime after 10 p.m. at Third Avenue and East 182nd Street in Belmont. Police said victim’s condition was not believed to be life-threatening. Shortly after the shooting, officers from the 46th Precinct, which covers Fordham, University Heights, Morris Heights, and Mount Hope, shut down the Cross Bronx Expressway and reportedly took one suspect from the 10 p.m. shooting into custody, but this could not be immediately verified by official police sources.

 

To date this year, in the 46th Precinct, the number of year-to-date shooting victims is up (24) by 9.1 percent versus the same time last year (22) while the number of year-to-date shootings is also up (22) by 4.8 percent versus the same time last year (21).

 

In the 47th precinct, the number of year-to-date shooting victims is down (28) by 6.7 percent versus the same time last year (30) while the number of year-to-date shootings remains the same as last year at 26.

 

In the 52nd precinct, the number of year-to-date shooting victims is also down (22) by 8.3 percent versus the same time last year (24) while the number of year-to-date shootings is up (19) by 5.6 percent versus the same time last year (18).

 

As reported, Good Shepherd Services’ Bronx Rises Against Gun Violence (B.R.A.G.) program will host the “B.R.A.G. Northwest Peace BBQ,” on Saturday, July 16 from noon to 5 p.m. The group will bring together elected officials and community members for an afternoon of free food, games, and music to celebrate unity and non-violence within the local community.

 

As rates of gun violence continue to rise both locally and nationwide, the event will mark the second BBQ this summer of B.R.A.G.’s annual series of Peace BBQs, which provides safe spaces where youth, families, and violence interrupters can gather safely, without fear of gun violence. B.R.A.G. has been hosting Peace BBQs since 2015, with the goal of fostering safe streets and encouraging new community norms where gun violence is not accepted. An additional event is scheduled for this summer on August 20.

 

*Síle Moloney contributed to this story.