Last Friday, a lone gunman, identified as 20-year-old Adam Lanza, shot and killed his mother in her home, took her legally purchased firearms and proceeded to Sandy Hook Elementary School, where he had once been a student. Lanza forced his way into the school and shot and killed six adults who worked at the school and 20 children, all ages 6 and 7, before committing suicide on the scene.
Later that day, Congressman Jerry Nadler issued a statement condemning the attacks and asserting that such unthinkable violence merits swift action on gun control laws.

“I am absolutely horrified by news of the cold-blooded shooting of dozens of children in Newtown. Yet another unstable person has gotten access to firearms and committed an unspeakable crime against innocent children,” Nadler said in the statement. “We cannot simply accept this as a routine product of modern American life. If now is not the time to have a serious discussion about gun control and the epidemic of gun violence plaguing our society, I don’t know when is. How many more Columbines and Newtowns must we live through? I am challenging President Obama, the Congress and the American public to act on our outrage and, finally, do something about this.”
Fellow New York Democratic Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, who represents the Upper East Side and parts of Queens and Brooklyn, echoed Nadler’s call for action.

“Our first thoughts must be with the families of those killed and injured today. But we can no longer allow tragedies—like Columbine, and Virginia Tech, and Tucson, and Aurora, and Newtown—to occur over and over without finally taking meaningful action to prevent them from happening again,” Maloney said in a statement. “Together as Americans, we must engage each other in a civil discourse about ways to deter would-be mass killers who are currently able to legally purchase guns and ammunition more easily than they could register an automobile.”

Mayor Bloomberg also spoke forcefully in support of stricter gun control laws, and on Monday announced the release of a series of videos produced by the Mayor’s Alliance Against Illegal Guns. The 34 videos (the same number of Americans who die every day due to guns), which can be viewed on DemandAPlan.org, all feature stories from people around the country who have been personally affected by gun violence.

“Gun violence is a national epidemic—and a national tragedy—that demands more than words. We are the only industrialized country that has this problem,” Bloomberg said at a press conference at City Hall. “That’s why we need immediate national action, from the president and from Congress. It should be at the top of their agenda because what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School was, sadly, no aberration.”

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

A police officer shot and killed a pit bull in the East Village at approximately 4:25 p.m. on Monday.

The officer was one of four to respond to a call to check on the dog’s owner, who appeared to be passed out on a sidewalk at 14th Street and 2nd Avenue in front of a KFC. When the officer attempted to wake up the man, the dog allegedly lunged at him, and he opened fire.

Neighboring businesses, friends and residents at the scene told DNAinfo that the man had come to the U.S. from Poland, and that he and his dog frequented that corner. He was 29 years old, suffered from epilepsy and had frequent seizures, they said.

A witness who called himself a friend of the unconscious man told the Local East Village that the man is known as Pollock and that the dog was named Star.

An East Village resident on the scene said to Gothamist that at first the officers were “not aggressive” towards the man or the dog. “The dog was barking very loudly, as though it were protecting its turf,” the resident said. The officers sprayed mace at the dog, according to the resident, then shot it when it advanced towards them.

“There were a lot of people around, and I didn’t hear them tell anyone to clear off,” the resident told Gothamist. “There was a little boy closer to the scene with his dad, and he started bawling.”

Chef Eddie Huang tweeted a photo of the incident, and told the Observer that “everyone around was like: Put the dog out of its misery. The cops left this dog wiggling and flaying, blood coming out of its mouth. They shot it in front of a public bus.”

“He was protecting the owner, like what animals do. He doesn’t know any better, he’s a dog,” a witness told NY1. “They could have handled it differently, rather than shooting the dog.

“I talked to the cop afterwards,” said another witness to NY1. “He was very shaken up. He’s a dog lover and it ruined his week, if not his year. And he did what he had to do to protect himself.”

The unconscious man and the police officer were both transported to local hospitals following the incident, an FDNY spokesperson told DNAinfo.

Officer Brian J. Groves (Photo Courtesy of NYPD)

Officer Brian Groves was shot around 3:40 a.m. Thursday during a routine patrol on the Lower East Side (7th precinct). Groves swung open a stairwell door of the Essex St. building when he saw the suspect carrying a pistol, reports the New York Times. The suspect fled down the stairs, but turned back to fire on the officer. Groves returned fire before realizing he had been shot near the heart. Groves was saved by his bulletproof vest, and is expected to fully recover, reports the Times. 

(by Alissa Fleck)

At the time of the shooting, Officer Groves, 30, and his partner were performing a “vertical patrol,” or a sweep through a building starting at the top and ending at the bottom floor.

Police Commisioner Raymond W. Kelly said in a statement: “The vertical patrol that [Groves] and his partner engaged in is a common, proactive police practice to give some measure of safety to residents of public housing.” He provided the statistic: “approximately four percent of the city’s population resides in public housing, but it experiences about 20% of all violent crime.”

The shooting took place between the 18th and 19th floors after the officers began to pursue the man. Groves dropped near the 15th floor, and the gunman escaped. It’s unclear whether the gunman was shot. The building, part of the Seward Park House complex, was of particular interest because of reports involving narcotics.

According to the Seward Park House Cooperative website, the complex was operated for over thirty years as a limited-equity cooperative, allowing it to receive tax subsidies for keeping the price of apartments at below market rates. They now sell at market rate.

Police Officer Groves's Vest (Photo Courtesy of NYPD)

Thursday afternoon the surrounding area was cordoned off with police tape. Officers said it would be closed at least for the day.

One MTA worker at the Delancey/Essex St. subway stop said: “I feel safe, but the community is not safe. The Chase Manhattan Bank [at the corner of Delancey & Essex] has been robbed twice. It’s not safe for police officers, it’s not safe for anyone.”

Jeff Andrews, a resident of the area, said it was the first time he had seen anything like this in the neighborhood. “This is a big thing,” said Andrews, a three year resident of the neighborhood. “It looks like world war three over there.”

Andrews also said he thought police had been overreacting to such incidents ever since 9/11. “The guy didn’t even get shot,” said Andrews, “now they’re going through every single apartment with no warrant. They’ve been here since 2:30 [a.m.].” Andrews indicated the long line of police vans in front of the housing complex.

When asked if the incident made him feel any less safe, Andrews said: “I guess something’s gotta happen sooner or later.”

Another resident of the area, Mike Duvall, said he had been living nearby for 22 years. Duvall said the incident “doesn’t change anything” and he still “absolutely feel[s] safe.” Duvall said a recent incident involving teenage boys with guns nearby made him feel more unsafe.

A man standing outside a psychic/tarot card shop near the intersection of Delancey and Essex Sts. gave the name Steve and said he was married to the psychic who worked there. He said he has lived nearby for four years.

“I love it,” he said of the area. He said he feels no less safe after the shooting. Steve also said he has not heard about similar violence in the area. “This is the first time in four years it’s been so close,” he said.

A construction worker who had been working nearby for months also said he felt no less safe after the shooting.

Officer Groves is the ninth police officer shot on duty this year. As of Thursday afternoon, police were still looking for the suspect, described according to Kelly as “a black male in his 20s, about 5-foot-9, thin build, with his hair braided in corn rows, and wearing a black T-shirt with red basketball shorts with beige stripes.”

A makeshift memorial outside of Ramarley Graham's former home. Photo by Hobo Mat, courtesy of Flickr Commons.

Four-year NYPD veteran Richard Haste is being indicted on manslaughter charges after fatally shooting an unarmed teenager in the boy’s Bronx home. Haste is expected to turn himself in to the Bronx district attorney’s office tomorrow following the grand jury’s decision, the Daily News reports.

In early February, Haste followed the victim, Ramarley Graham, into his home on a drug pursuit. The officer alleged he thought Graham had a gun, though the teen was found to be unarmed with only a bag of marijuana near his deceased body. Officers claimed they told 18-year-old Graham to stop before he ran into his home and apparently attempted to flush the drugs. Once inside the home, Haste shot the teen at point-blank range in front of Graham’s grandmother and 6-year-old brother. Surveillance footage revealed Graham in fact walked into his home while the officers attempted to kick down the door, says the Daily News.

Graham’s grandmother, Patricia Hartley, said the police never identified themselves to her grandson. Some are blaming this violent act on the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk program; after the shooting street protests broke out in the teen’s neighborhood.

Also following the shooting, it was revealed Haste had never received training as part of a street narcotics enforcement team. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly has since ordered that all cops must undergo the necessary training before partaking in a street narcotics unit.

Reverend Al Sharpton has reportedly stood by Graham’s family during this tragedy. He issued a statement calling for  justice to be “fairly and impartially administered.” Graham’s lawyer told the Daily News the whole family intends to be at Haste’s arraignment, calling this a clear-cut case of excessive violence.

Haste was placed on desk duty in the shooting’s aftermath, and will now be suspended without pay.

Police Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch issued a press release, standing by Haste, following the indictment. “Several members of the officer’s team had confirmed the presence of a gun and that constituted a grave danger to the officers and the community,” said Lynch. “We believe that this officer will be exonerated at trial.”

—Alissa Fleck

Unlike Goetz, who was hailed as both a folk hero and demonized a reckless vigilante, Zimmerman has mostly been vilified by the public and media. Zimmerman’s defense team has an uphill battle to win the sympathy of a jury and get an acquittal.

Bernhard Goetz lived in Ed Koch’sNew York City, which was a far cry from theGothamof today. A crime ridden metropolis with sky rocketing crime rates,New York Citywas ranked as one of the most dangerous in the world. The subway itself was an icon of lawlessness and the inability of city law enforcement to protect its citizens. This setting made it easy for the jury to believe that Goetz needed an illegal handgun to feel safer. Sanford FL., where Martin met his end, is nearly the exact opposite.Floridais famous as a destination for retirees, a place where they would spend the remainder of their days in relative comfort and safety. Crime is localized and offenses are normally drug related or white collar. Zimmerman’s neighborhood however, of which he was the watch captain, suffered eight burglaries, nine thefts, and one shooting in the year before the entire country knew who Trayvon Martin was.

According to Goetz’s prosecutors, Goetz entered the subway with a handgun as an attempt to use force. While on trial in 1986, Goetz testified that the four teens whom he had shot had given each other a signal before approaching him for money. Under self defense laws, the defendants have to prove that they are a reasonable person experiencing reasonable fear.

In 1981, three years before gunfire erupted on a No. 2 train, Bernhard Goetz was mugged by three black youths. The police caught one of the thieves, but he was shortly released from custody. Goetz often complained that he spent more time in the police station that night than the perpetrator. Flash forward to 2012, Zimmerman is speaking to 911 operators and on record saying “these *** holes always get away.”

“A jury acquitted [Goetz] because they believed that a reasonable person in that situation would be fearful of those black youth,” said Jody David Armour, a law professor as theUniversityofSouth Carolinain a televised interview. Zimmerman might have indeed been fearful, and reported that Martin “got his hand in his waist-band.”

But fear affects people in different ways. While both men committed crimes and went to court, Goetz’s actions can be considered germane and, although morally shaky, could also be seen as somewhat heroic by giving people hope that criminals wouldn’t always runAmerica’s cities. Zimmerman, on the other hand, merely looks like a shaky, paranoid, neighborhood watch captain.

As in Goetz’s case, the defense team will likely push the appearance of Trayvon as a motivating cause for self defense in proving that Zimmerman was a reasonable person who feared black youths.  “[The defense teem will say] Look at the person who was approaching me, look at the hood over his head. Where have you seen hoods like that before? [You have seen them] in grainy films where people are holding up stores and the like,” continued Armour in the interview.

If Zimmerman wins this case, it could set a dangerous precedent where ordinary people should feel reasonable if they fear a black teenager.

The men—a grandfather, his son-in-law and his grandson—were killed inside their apartment at 492 Amsterdam Ave. between West 83rd and 84th streets, according to police.

The victims were Fernando Gonzales, 87, his son-in-law Carlos Rodriguez, Sr., 52, and Rodriguez’s 24-year-old son, Carlos, Jr.

A fourth body, the alleged shooter Hector Quinones, was also found dead, apparently from falling out of a third-floor apartment window in the five-story walk up building. Police suspect that he tried to flee on the fire escape. His .380 caliber, semi-automatic Smith & Wesson pistol was found in the apartment.

Gonzales was found dead in the bathroom. Rodriguez and his son were shot in the bedroom.

Gisela Gonzalez, the 49-year-old mother of Carlos, Jr. and wife of Carlos, Sr., was returning home from a meeting with her landlord at tenant court when she walked in on the shooting at 1:45 p.m. She sustained a head injury—possibly from being grazed by a bullet or hit with the butt of the gun—and was taken to a nearby hospital.

Reports say drugs were at the heart of the shootings. Quinones knew the elder Rodriguez from their days in prison together.

The men—a grandfather, his son-in-law and his grandson—were killed inside their apartment on 492 Amsterdam Ave. between West 83rd and 84th streets, according to police.

The victims were Fernando Gonzales, his son-in-law Carlos Rodriguez, Sr. and his son Carlos Jr., according to reports.

A photo of Carlos Rodriguez, Jr., was placed on a bouquet of flowers left in front of the apartment where he was shot.

A fourth body, the alleged shooter Hector Quinones, was also found dead, apparently from falling out of a third-floor apartment window in the five-story walk up building.

Police suspect that he tried to flee on the fire escape. His gun was found in the apartment.
The 82-year-old Gonzales was found dead in the bathroom. Rodriguez and his son were shot in the bedroom.

The 49-year-old mother of the slain son, in his twenties, walked in on the shooting at 1:45 p.m. She sustained a head injury—possibly from being grazed by a bullet or hit with the butt of the gun—and was taken to a nearby hospital.

Police have yet to discover a motive but are looking into possible drug connections.
The scene was taped off into the late afternoon as school children and customers in nearby businesses crowded the sidewalks.