Three people have been arrested following the fatal shooting of a 47-year-old man in Fordham Heights earlier this month, police said.

 

As reported, police said that on Saturday, March 16, at around 9.40 p.m., officers from the 46^th Precinct responded to 911 calls regarding a person who had been shot in front of a multistory, residential building on Morris Avenue, located between Field Place and East 183rd Street.

 

“Upon arrival, officers observed a 47-year-old male with multiple gunshot wounds throughout the body,” a police spokesperson said. “The victim was removed by EMS to St. Barnabas Hospital where he was pronounced deceased.”

 

A baseball cap and a pair of spectacles were seen on the sidewalk in the cordoned off area. Later on Sunday afternoon, March 17, police said the deceased was identified as Alexis Ramirez of Fordham Heights.

Pursuant to an ongoing investigation, police said on Sunday, March 24, that on Tuesday, March 19, at 6.55 p.m. in the 46th Precinct, they arrested Carlos Hernandez Ortiz, 44, from the Fordham Heights section of The Bronx, José Suarez, 42, from the Olinville section of The Bronx, and Julio Suarez, 54, from the Fordham Heights section of the borough.

 

They said Hernandez Ortiz was charged with murder, manslaughter, gang assault, and criminal possession of a weapon, José Suarez was charged with murder, manslaughter, gang assault, and criminal possession of a weapon, and Julio Suarez was charged with murder,, manslaughter, gang assault, and criminal possession of a weapon.

 

All three are presumed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.

Norwood News had previously spoken to some people who were passing by the scene of the shooting late on Saturday night / early Sunday morning. One woman who declined to be identified who said she was from out of state was visiting her sister whose car happened to have been parked by the crime scene and had apparently been damaged during the shooting.

 

Her sister was seen talking to police officers and examining her car. Neither the woman we spoke to, nor her sister nor any of their friends had witnessed the shooting. One of her male friends surmised the victim may not have been the intended target but someone who was shot by accident / in crossfire.

Though the crime scene was on a residential side street, there were still people passing up and down the street late on Saturday night and into the early hours of Sunday morning, while nearby East 183rd Street was busier with other people, and music was heard from nearby bars and delis.

We spoke to other people in the neighborhood but nobody else had witnessed the incident either. Speaking in Spanish, a middle-aged male resident of the neighborhood, who we are not naming for his safety and who lives in a building close to where the shooting took place, was just getting home from work when we asked for his reaction to the incident.

 

Asked how he felt knowing someone had been shot dead near his home, he said, “Well, walking around with fear. We have to go out to work, and the level of crime is fairly bad and so violent outside at this time.”

Asked if it was the first time that a fatal shooting had happened in the neighborhood, he said, “Well, I’m not living in this area a long time, but I’ve never seen anything like this until now.” Asked if he was aware of any gang activity in the neighborhood, the man said he didn’t know and that he just went to and from his home to work. “I sometimes go to the supermarket and to a bar but nothing else,” he said.

 

The numbers of both year-to-date shootings and shooting victims in the Bronx overall as of March 10 are up compared to the same time last year, while in the 46th Precinct, where the shooting took place, the number of shooting victims as of March 10 has decreased compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile the number of shooting incidents compared to the same timeframe last year as of March 10 remains the same.

Anyone with information regarding 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 Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, or on Twitter @NYPDTips.

All calls are strictly confidential.