Police confirmed arresting a youth from Fordham Heights on murder charges on Tuesday in relation to the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old in Claremont last weekend.

 

Police responded to a 911 call on Saturday, May 15, at approximately 9.07 p.m. regarding multiple people who had been shot at the rear of 1625 Webster Avenue in Claremont, in the 44th precinct. Upon arrival, officers discovered a 17-year-old man unconscious and unresponsive with a gunshot wound to his chest.

 

EMS responded, and transported the youth to BronxCare Health System where he was pronounced deceased. Upon further investigation it was discovered that four additional victims had also been shot during the incident, and had made their way to BronxCare Health System by private means.

 

A 31-year-old man was shot in the left leg, a 28-year-old woman was shot in the right leg, a 25-year-old man was shot twice in the right leg and a 24-year-old man was shot in the right buttocks and left leg. All were in stable condition.  The investigation is ongoing.

 

The deceased was identified as Armanis Valdez of Morris Heights in The Bronx.

 

On May 18, pursuant to an ongoing investigation, police said Luis Cruz, 18, of East 184th St. in Fordham Heights was arrested and charged on Monday, May 17, at 10.40 p.m. in the 44th precinct. Cruz was charged with murder, manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon (a loaded firearm).

 

A person arrested and accused of a crime is innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.

 

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 WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, or on Twitter @NYPDTips.

 

All calls are strictly confidential.