An Independence Day shooting at Tracey Towers, a Mosholu Parkway high-rise with a history of problems and violence, left a young man critically injured and tenants searching for answers from police who failed to show up after a 911 call was placed two hours before the incident.

Police said dispatchers “erroneously” classified the 911 call as “disorderly conduct,” making it a lower priority for patrolmen who were busy attending to higher priority calls. The explanation did little to quell residents’ feelings of neglect.

The incident built slowly to its ugly climax. On July 4, an unauthorized holiday barbecue in the playground on the buildings’ back lot began at 5 p.m. As the night wore on, the party grew into a large mix of young residents and nonresidents, according to the Tracey Towers Tenant Organization and police.

Tracey security made a 911 call to police to report disorderly conduct at 11 p.m., but no one showed up to investigate. (Police said they responded to three earlier calls for disorderly conduct, but after driving by the serene front of the building, officers decided not to investigate further.)

At 12:58 a.m., shots were fired, critically injuring a young tenant named Mark Coles, 20, who was parking his car in the garage next to the playground.

According to witness Sheila Reinhardt, a Tracey resident, the shots were fired by a youth who could not be identified. Coles was hit in the stomach and remains in critical condition after undergoing at least three surgeries, police said.

At a town hall meeting organized by the tenants association, last week, tenants were joined by police from the 52nd Precinct and a handful of local politicians to discuss the poor police response.

Reinhardt, who couldn’t attend, said in a statement, “This community continues to have an increase in gun activity and a decrease in quality of life.” For residents, the meeting may have felt a little like deja vu, as many recalled when four Ghanaian youth were shot last year outside of Tracey Towers.

Felix Gibson, the vice-president of the tenants association said, “This is a break in the system. We demand elected officials look into it and fix it.”

Gibson and others expressed resentment, saying they felt like victims of racial inequality. “Because of the composition of the residents here, this is why we have a delayed response,” Gibson said. “We pay the same tax money as anyone in New York City. If you know the history of Tracey Towers, with shootings and with disorderly conduct, why were we not prioritized?”

Gibson’s emotional plea was met with nods and shouts of agreement from tenants.

Council Member Oliver Koppell, who represents Tracey, said Gibson and others were “out of line” for linking the delayed police response to the issue of race. “Everyone demands more police attention,” Koppell said. “I know for a fact the NYPD does not respond to any community differently.”

Captain Orlando Rivera, second in command at the 52nd Precinct, also said holiday festivities overburdened the precinct. “Despite the extra personnel, we received 260 911-calls that day, which is about 50 calls per car. When 18 calls per car is the usual busy day, it’s obvious we were running around trying to attend to these requests.”

Rivera said preventing violent incidents is a two-way street. “We should have gotten a call when the unauthorized barbecue began at 5 p.m.,” he said. “Not all of the tenants are helping out. There is a sense of ambivalence out there.”

Brenda Caldwell, a Tracey tenant and president of the 52nd Precinct Community Council, agreed. “It is important that everyone has to speak up,” Caldwell said. “The other neighborhoods get the police attention because they show they care. It’s not about color, it’s [about] presence.”

While there were many who saw the issue of race or the issue of community ambivalence as the main conflict between tenants and the police, everyone in the room ultimately sought to find a common plan of action. “This is the beginning of something to get a result,” Rivera said.

“This is only the start,” said tenant association president Sam Gillian, ending the meeting. “We have a long way to go.”