A 23-year-old man and a 25-year-old man were stabbed and brought to a local area hospital following an incident on Valentine’s Day in the Bedford Park section of The Bronx, coincidentally in the vicinity of Valentine Avenue.

 

Police said that on Tuesday, Feb. 14, at approximately 3.40 p.m., police [from the 52nd Precinct] responded to a 911 call regarding shots fired at 239 East 203rd Street, which intersects with Valentine Avenue.

A police spokesperson said, “Upon arrival, officers discover a 25-year-old male with stab wounds to the neck.” The spokesperson added, “While conducting a hospital canvass at Montefiore Medical Center, officers discovered a second 23-year-old male victim with stab wounds to his left arm, right arm, lower back, and torso.”

 

Police said it was reported to them that the victim at the hospital had also been stabbed at 239 East 203rd Street. All victims were listed in stable condition at Montefiore Medical Center, an NYPD spokesperson said. According to police, there were no arrests and the investigation is ongoing.

 

The same evening at around 5.51 p.m., a helicopter could be heard and seen flying over the vicinity of Norwood and Bedford Park. It wasn’t clear if it was a police helicopter or not, though it appeared to be hovering over the area.

 

The area stretching from the intersection of East 203rd Street and Valentine Avenue as far as a Smoke Shop & Lotto store, located on Valentine Avenue close to East 204th Street, was cordoned off by police. A daycare center is located on E 203rd Street a short distance away from the crime scene.

 

Norwood News spoke to a number of people in the area later on Tuesday evening, as one young man was seen walking down East 203rd Street carrying a bouquet of flowers.

 

Nobody wished to disclose their names. The first man we spoke to, who was about 30 and who lived close by, said he didn’t see what happened but that when people told him about it, he said he knew of the people involved in the incident. “I can’t talk about that,’ he said in Spanish. “There were problems,” he said.

 

When asked if he meant there were problems between different groups or individuals, he said he didn’t know if there were problems between specific groups, just that there were “problems” and “fighting” and “gunfire exchanges.” Asked if there were gangs frequenting the neighborhood, he said, “Yes, always.” He added that an ambulance had been at the scene and that as far as he knew, one person had been hurt but was not deceased.

 

He continued, “There were problems between people and I can’t say much more than that. I’m not sure what happened. I just came upon it, walking, and there were a lot of police and all.”

Most people we spoke to had not been present when the incident occurred and said they just saw the area sealed off when they arrived home from work. Others said they had been inside when it unfolded and hadn’t seen what happened.

 

One man who worked on Valentine Avenue said he had the radio on and didn’t hear any gunshots but saw people running up Valentine Avenue towards East 202nd Street. “I saw some people running and I said, Oh, what happened outside?” he said. “Later on, I saw the police and the ambulance and the people.”

Asked if he saw anyone injured, he said no. We asked how he felt about something like a shooting happening in the area in terms of how it affected business. He replied, “I don’t know because this area is good,” he said. “No problem over here. For me, this area is good. It’s like maybe one year [ago] something happened.”

 

As reported, a short distance away, in early June 2022, a 22-year-old man was seated in a vehicle (as a passenger) located opposite 214 East Mosholu Parkway South outside P.S. 8 in Bedford Park when he was shot in the back. At the time, it was reported that the victim had survived the shooting.

One local store owner who did not witness the incident either told Norwood News that, in his opinion, the make-up of the neighborhood had changed a lot, and that a lot of people from Brooklyn and Manhattan had moved in in recent times.

 

He said it was not the first time there had been a shooting in the area.

Another store worker on Valentine Avenue said he was not working at the time the incident occurred but that his colleague who had been working that day told him he heard [from inside the store] about six gunshots as it unfolded but had not seen the incident itself.

 

Another worker in a local business on Valentine also said they heard the gunshots but that the incident appeared to be out of their line of vision and they didn’t see what happened.

Speaking in Spanish, another woman who had been in the area at the time the incident occurred, said, “I don’t know any details. I didn’t see anything. I just saw a multitude of police officers, that’s all.”

 

Meanwhile, as reported, on the Fordham Manor / Kingsbridge Heights border, a vigil was organized by violence interrupters, Bronx Rises Against Gun Violence (B.R.A.G.), the same evening, Feb. 14, in response to a separate non-fatal shooting of a 30-year-old man on Saturday, Feb. 11. The event was attended by District 14 City Council Member Pierina Sanchez.

Police Officer Stephen Echevarria from the 52nd Precinct Community Affairs team said the shooting took place on Feb. 11 at 9:30 p.m.  “Multiple calls for a male shot came through 911 at 196th Street and Morris Avenue,” he said. “The uncooperative male victim was shot once in the leg. The victim was transported to St Barnabas Hospital and is in stable condition.” He added that the 52nd Precinct detective squad were currently investigating this incident.

An NYPD press officer later said police had responded to a 911 call regarding an assault at the location. “Upon arrival, officers were informed by a 30-year-old male victim [that] he [had been] walking when he was shot,” an NYPD spokesperson said, adding that the suspect fled to parts unknown. No description for the gunman was available, police said.

“Sadly, we have to report that a man was shot on Saturday, February 11, 2023 in the BRAG NorthWest catchment (hot zone),” the group wrote ahead of the vigil. “We are grateful that he survived this violent trauma. It goes without saying that all life is valuable and to that we will forever say NO MORE! Please bring your voice to OUR (yours and ours) response as you never know [whose] voice will resonate and save a life! Thank you!”

 

On Wednesday, Feb. 15, a 21-year-old man was fatally shot in Mt. Hope, as reported.

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/ or on Twitter @NYPDTips.

All calls are strictly confidential.