Law enforcement officials in New York City are currently looking for a gunman that approached a 17-year-old male and shot him square in the chest, right in broad daylight, on a sidewalk located in Brooklyn on Wednesday afternoon, according to reports from WNBC-TV.
The victim, identified as Graig Bassett, was pronounced dead at the hospital, sources from within the NYPD revealed to the news outlet.
“Police released video of the shooting, WNBC said, adding that it shows a male dressed in black and wearing a black face mask walking across a street and weaving between cars until he gets up on a sidewalk. The station said he looks at someone, pulls a gun, aims, fires, and then runs off,” TheBlaze is reporting.
“The shooting took place at Saratoga Avenue and Prospect Place around 4:50 p.m., police told WPIX-TV. A surveillance camera outside the Ya Ya Deli recorded the crime, WABC-TV reported. The victim lived less than a mile from the shooting scene, WNBC said,” the report continues.
TheBlaze adds, “There was no immediate word on whether the shooter and Bassett may have known each other or what led to the shooting, WNBC added. But WABC said police indicated a group of teens — possibly part of a juvenile robbery gang — had an argument outside the store before the shooting.”
A small memorial was erected at the corner where the deli is located, in memory of the victim of this horrific crime.
“Lighting a candle for our friend, sad we lost our friend, but it’s another day for us,” a friend of Bassett went on to tell the station. Just hearing that statement is heartbreaking. Why is the inner city area such a hotbed of violent crime? There are a lot of factors that contribute to the issue, but one thing that’s for sure not helping is soft-on-crime policies and defunding local law enforcement departments, which in turn leads to less officers on the street.
Olivia Doughty, a neighbor, spoke with WABC and delivered a rather poignant thought, saying, “you never know when it’s going to be your last day. That’s really young, and I feel bad for the parents and what they’re going through right now.”
Going back to the cause that has made so many cities hubs for violent crime, it’s critical to note a lot of the senseless shootings that happen aren’t the result of a lack of gun control laws. There are plenty of those on the books and they have done absolutely nothing to solve the problem. So what gives?
Part of the problem is the lack of economic opportunities in these areas, which is the result of Democratic Party economic policies. Folks turn to illegal activity to make money, which inevitably leads to violence in some way, shape, or form. If you want to see this change, you have to stop voting liberals into office at the local, state, and federal levels.
A failure to act in this regard will only lead to more violence and unnecessary death and suffering.