A 21-year-old man was fatally shot by police following an incident on Gun Hill Road and Hull Avenue in Norwood on Thursday, Nov. 3. A second 29-year-old man involved in an altercation with the deceased is in stable condition in hospital.

 

Police said the shooting occurred at 11.20 a.m., members of the Queens Warrant Squad were in an unmarked police vehicle in front of 330 Gun Hill Road, a bodega, grocery store.

The gun below was recovered at the scene. pic.twitter.com/RczFnB8JZP

— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) November 3, 2022

Police said, “They were investigating an unrelated incident. At 11.30 a.m. a 29-year-old male double-parked a white Lexus at the southeast corner of Hull Avenue and East Gun Hill Road. He entered the bodega where he engaged in a violent struggle with a 21-year-old male who was already in the deli.”

 

They continued, “This struggle is caught on surveillance video tape. It appears the 21-year-old who was in the deli prior had a gun and the 29-year-old who entered is stabbing him with a knife.”

Watch as NYPD executives provide an update to the shooting in Bronx. https://t.co/sYZwwRZRLJ

— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) November 3, 2022

They continued, “The male with the knife flees, pursued by the male with the gun. As he exists the bodega, he fires at the male at point-blank range into the white Lexus. One sergeant and two detectives from the Queens Violence Detectives Squad, in plain clothes, confront the male with the gun, and fire numerous times.”

 

Police said the male who was shot by police was removed to Jacobi Medical Center and was pronounced deceased.

 

“The 29-year-old male fled the scene and was discovered a short time later with a graze wound to his head [in a barber shop],” police added. “He was removed to St. Barnabas Hospital, and is in stable condition.”

 

A photo of the gun and the knife recovered at the scene was shared by police during a press conference. The photo of the gun is attached. Police said a preliminary investigation found that neither civilian had any connection to the bodega. Shattered car window glass was seen beside the white Lexus in a video shot by a Citizens’ App user.

 

The motive for the shooting is still unclear and under investigation.

This is the knife that was recovered inside the vehicle. pic.twitter.com/nWo8WgQQdP

— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) November 3, 2022

Police added that there had been some shootings in the neighborhood in the past few weeks. “We have to look at the background of the individuals involved and what they were doing and what sparked this argument. The incident is just three hours old,” police said.

 

Norwood News previously reported on a reported shooting in the vicinity of the same location of Hull Avenue and East Gun Hill Road on Tuesday, July 26, 2022.

 

We also reported on another shooting was at East 204th Street in Norwood on Sept. 22, that left one man critical.

 

In response to media questions, police said an initial review of the guns involved belonging to the detectives showed that one of the officers involved shot two rounds and another shot ten rounds. They added that this information was subject to change and that a statement would be forthcoming from the detectives squad. It was confirmed that the detectives involved were not wearing body-worn cameras.

Video of the aftermath of a fatal shooting which took place on the corner of Hull Avenue and East Gun Hill Road in Norwood on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022. Video courtesy of the Citizens’ App.

 

This is a developing story.

 

Norwood News received as yet unconfirmed reports of a separate nearby vehicle collision on East Gun Hill Road and Bronx River Parkway also on Nov. 3. Traffic around the Williamsbridge Oval in Norwood was backed up for most of Thursday, with many ambulance sirens heard trying to navigate their way to area hospitals, as well as unmarked police vehicles with flashing lights trying to get through traffic. Norwood News reached out to both DOT and the NYPD for any public service announcements regarding recommended alternate traffic routes, and will update this story upon receipt of any traffic related announcements.

@NYC_DOT Any public traffic announcements please in light of the earlier shooting today on East Gun Hill Road & Hull Avenue in Norwood? Traffic around the Williamsbridge Oval has been backed up for most of the day with ambulances trying hard to get through to area hospitals. Thx pic.twitter.com/oarWH2VdGa

— Norwood News (@NorwoodNews) November 3, 2022

 

A local business owner who operates on East Gun Hill who asked not to be identified said on the day of the shooting that crime is getting worse in Norwood, especially along Gun Hill Road, and feels that more police presence is required.

 

Another passerby who used to live in the area but who now lives in Westchester said of the incident, “It’s never gonna stop. It’s never gonna stop. That’s what I gotta say. I used to live here. That’s why I got out of here.”

 

He added, “The government just keep letting guns come in here. That’s it. Republican, Democrat, it doesn’t matter. It’s terrible. I lived here 45 years. I’ve never seen it like this.”

 

Another local resident who we spoke to said, in reference to the location of the shooting, “There’s a lot of kids standing on the corner, and they get involved into things that potentially causes harm to others, and people are very uncomfortable with that area.”

 

Asked if he wanted to elaborate on what he meant, he said, “One time I was coming out of the store, and somebody elbowed me, and I told him, ‘Don’t ever do that again.’ But, then I didn’t want to follow up because they jump people over there, and it’s always something… jumping off over there. That’s about it.”

 

Asked what he would like to see done about the situation, he said, “I would like to see the police more visible than what they are.” He added, “They’re there, but they’re not there when [things] like this happen. They’re not around. They come after the fact, and they really need to be around more often.”

 

Another local store owner on Gun Hill Road who asked not to disclose his name said he was not there when the shooting happened and his store was closed at the time. “Actually, I just arrived here around 1.30. [Only] since then, I know what’s happened. I was not here this morning. Still, my business is closed. They didn’t allow me yet to open. That’s all I know.”

 

The business owner said he did not have security footage of the incident. Asked how he felt about security in general in the area as a business owner, he said, “Right now, it’s not like [safe]. Every day, we’re seeing the same shooting, the same fighting, the same problems.”

 

Another business owner we spoke to who declined to give his name and who has a business on Gun Hill Road said he was not there when the shooting happened but arrived later. “So, when I opened, I saw that there was a lot of cops out here, and the shooting happened, and the guy was killed, and I didn’t know what happened or how it happened,” he said. “But then, I just heard that there was a shooting going on by the deli. So, the guy got shot, and they killed him. He was standing on the corner. He was a nice guy, the young kid. I don’t know what happened, what’s the reason behind it.”

 

Of the victim, he said, ‘I used to see him around the corner when I used to go to the chicken store to get the food, and buy Daily Times, because I don’t come every day. I come some times because I have another job. I’m in IT. So, whenever I come, I just see those guys, I never have any problem. Just take my food, come to my store, see, and then just leave.”

 

Regarding the shooting, he said, “As soon as I came, so I saw a lot of cop’s cars and all of these people out here. I thought it might be some gang violence or maybe a regular fight. But then I spoke to the police officer. She told me, ‘No, the guy was shot.'”

 

The business owner said working in the neighborhood, he did not feel safe. “These things happen every other month, or a week or three weeks,’ he said. “So, as a citizen of U.S. or a resident of New York City, I don’t feel that that safe to be working in this kind of environment.”

 

He added, “We need more cops. I think for the people, for security because if people are not safe, how are we going to run our business here? Since the NYPD got defunded after pandemic, the crime is rising. It’s getting worse and worse and worse every day, today. That’s why nobody wants to be a cop anymore because their pay is too less.”

 

He continued, “I was going to be a cop, but I stopped, because the pay is too low. It’s not safe. Who will want to be a cop anymore? They need to understand that if if do you want to defund the police, and you’re not going to take care of the cops, if you’re not going to provide them the actual stuff, or if you’re not going to back them, how they’re going to stop the crime like this?”

 

We asked if he had personal experience of other shootings in this area. “No, this was the first time it ever happened,” he said. “Other than that, it’s just regular, you know, fighting and stuff, but this was the first time ever since I have the store that someone died like this. It never happened before.”

 

Asked if he saw fighting during the day, at night or at all times, he said, “Fighting, just like, you know, talking, arguing. But other than that, nothing. I haven’t seen someone die like that, like in the daylight, and the morning time. If it’s nighttime, it’s different. But in the daylight if you’re not safe, how you’re going to feel safe and working here?”

 

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 CrimeStoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/ or on Twitter @NYPDTips.

 

All calls are strictly confidential.

 

*David Greene contributed to this story.