A 26-year-old man has been arrested following the fatal shooting of a 29-year-old man on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 29, at 788 E 182nd Street in the Belmont Section of The Bronx, police said.

 

A police spokesperson said the incident occurred at around 1.50 p.m. “Police responded to a 911 call for a person shot in the vicinity of East 182 Street and Mapes Avenue, within the confines of the 48 Precinct,” a police spokesperson said. “Upon arrival, officers observed a 29-year-old male with a gunshot wound to the head. EMS responded to the location and pronounced the male deceased on scene.”

 

There were no arrests and police said the suspect was last seen fleeing the location along nearby Prospect Avenue. The identity of the deceased is pending family notification.

Several family members and neighbors were seen at the scene, some with tears streaming down their faces. The victim’s aunt said, “All I know is my nephew was shot.”

 

Speaking in Spanish, one local pastor said he and others were in a nearby church when someone entered the church to tell them that someone had been shot. Asked if he was one of the first people on the scene, he said he was not.

One female neighbor, Elizabeth, said of the incident, “There’s a guy here from the community; he has been here all his life. His mom lived in this building. They grew up on this block. It takes as a surprise that somebody so young.. I can’t believe it right now, because it’s hard to ask the family about what happened but yeah, eventually, with the investigation, we’ll find out what’s going on.”

 

“They grew up with my daughter and my son here,” Elizabeth said. She shared her condolences for the victim’s family.

Some of the female congregants began to pray for the victim and the family at the scene.

 

On Monday, Sept. 30, pursuant to an ongoing investigation, police announced that Herman Gayle, 26, of Manhattan was arrested on Sunday, Sept. 29, at 10 p.m. They said he was charged with second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. The deceased was identified as Devonte R. Serrano of Belmont.

Anyone with information in regard to 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 X @NYPDTips.

All calls are strictly confidential.