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A 20-year-old woman was shot in the head and killed on Wednesday night in New York City's Upper East Side neighborhood.
According to a representative for Mayor Eric Adams' office, the victim was pushing a baby stroller when she was attacked. Authorities informed CBS New York that a man approached her from behind, shot her once in the head, and fled the scene.
Woman shot in New York's Upper East Side neighborhood had a 3-month-old baby with her
Based on multiple reports, the resident was taken to Metropolitan Hospital Center, where she died of her wounds. The 3-month-old baby was reportedly unharmed.
City Council Member Julie Menin confirmed the same on Twitter.
Speaking at a press conference there on Wednesday night, Mayor Adams remarked,
"When a mother's pushing a baby carriage down the block, or an individual or a woman is pushing a baby carriage down the block, and is shot in point blank range, it shows just how this national problem is impacting families. It doesn't matter if you are on the Upper East Side or East New York, Brooklyn."
The unnamed shooter, who was described as a man dressed in all-black clothing and a hooded sweatshirt, is still at large.
Crime rate in New York City has skyrocketed in recent months
According to figures provided by the New York Police Department earlier this month, grand larceny, burglaries, and robberies are largely to blame for the current spike in crime in the city, which rose 27.8 percent in May 2022 compared to the same month last year.
Adams, a former police officer who ran successfully for mayor on a platform of enforcing the law, is under increased pressure as a result of the increase in crime.
Adams has also attempted to criticize judges and prosecutors for purportedly being lenient on crime.
He fumed at a news conference,
"No one takes criminal justice seriously anymore. These bad guys no longer take them seriously. They believe our criminal justice system is a laughingstock of our entire community. We have to get serious about this' cause innocent people are dying."
But the rate of murder and gun violence has been steadily declining. Compared to May 2021, there were 31.4 percent fewer gun violence incidents in the city last month, according to departmental data.
Adams' office has seized on such statistics in an effort to alter the course of a city that had 1,562 shootings in 2021, the highest in 15 years. The city witnessed 1,531 incidents in 2020.
Police Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell said in a June 3 statement,
"We have pointed every resource we have at reducing gun violence in the city. We have seen seven straight weeks of shootings going down and that is not a coincidence."
The Upper East Side is one of the wealthiest and safest neighborhoods in the city. The mayor's official residence, Gracie Mansion, is less than a mile away from the crime scene.
