UWS shooter hit with attempted murder, NYPD probes 2 more shootings on UES
Three shooting within five hours on March 14 are believed to be gang related. One suspect on the first shooting was quickly apprended. Cops are searching for other suspects in two other shootings as they step up police presence around high schools.
| 19 Mar 2023 | 04:45
NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell at a press conference on the UWS near the scene of the first shooting on March 14 in which he revealed an alleged shooter was apprehended. He believes two other shooting later that afternoon on the East Side are connected. The hunt is on for other suspects. Photo: Keith J. Kelly
The 17 year old victim of the first shooting on March 14, staggered to the Martin Luther King, Jr. campus, which houses six high schools. The victim was said to be a student at the Maxine Greene H.S., although that was not confirmed. He was whisked from there to New York Presbyterian Weil-Cornell. Photo: Keith J. Kelly
Police displayed a picture of the firearm they said was recovered from the suspect in the UWS shooting on Tuesday. Photo: Keith J. Kelly
A 19 year old suspect who was apprenhended shorty after he shot a 17 year old high school student on the UWS blocks away from the Martin Luther King Jr. high school campus has been formally charged with attempted murder.
Police now say that they believe two other shootings that occurred within a five hour period on March 14 were connected and suspected to be gang related.
An alleged shooter, Cheick Coulibaly was apprended a short time after shots flew at the corner of Amsterdam Ave. and 68th St. on March 14 around 9:50 am and he was formally charged the next day with attempted murder, assault, criminal use of a firearm and criminal possession of a weapon, according to prosecutors.
Two more shooting took place within a five hour span that cops believe are related to gangs, including a shooting near Harlem Renaissance High School on 128th St. and Madison Ave. about an hour after the shooting two blocks away from the Martin Luther King Jr. high school campus. A 16 year old student was struck in the leg and a 27 year old bystander was also wounded in the shooting near Harlem Renaissance H.S. Around 3 pm there was another report of shots fired at 105th St. and Lexington Ave, but there were no victims reported in that incident.
The NYPD’s Chell had high praise for the community in the upper west side for quickly calling 911 after the 17 year old student was shot in the abdomen and helping police find the shooter. The victim was operated on at New York Presbyterian Weil-Cornell Hospital on Masrch 14 and was said to be in stable condition.
Coulibaly still had the handgun allegedly used in the shooting as he tried to flee in a yellow cab, Chell said. The original altercation involved four or five individuals but quickly escalated when Coulibaly allegedly produced a gun and fired off at least three rounds--at least two of which hit the 17 year old victim, who then staggerd to MLK Jr. High School campus two blocks away. Six schools are housed within the building and one source said he was a student at Maxine Green High School, but that was not confirmed by police.
“These actions by this community up here, allowed our police and officers in the 2-0 precinct to quickly apprehend the person we believe is the shooter, firearm recovered and no further incidents,” Chell said a press conference on March 14 afternoon near the scene of the shooting at 68th and Amsterdam Ave.
But the calm did not last long as there were three shootings within a five hour span resulting in three victims including two teenagers. The most gravely wounded was the 17 year old victim on the Upper West Side.