New images released Thursday capture two men approaching a crowd last month on a Queens street and firing about 40 shots, injuring 10 people before fleeing on mopeds, as New York City's violent summer of crime rages on.
The shooters, who were in the North Corona neighborhood, targeted members of the Trinitarios gang, police said, but they opened fire near pedestrians outside a barbershop and at a birthday party in a restaurant.
NYPD released new high-quality photos on Thursday showing two gunmen and their two accomplices on mopeds who are wanted by the police
Eight men and two women, who range in age from 19 to 72, were all hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries from the Queens shooting July 31
The images show of a pair of gunmen and their two accomplices who helped them escape on mopeds the night of the shooting
The gunmen were trailed by two men on mopeds, one of whom was wearing a charcoal-gray sweatshirt with an American flag emblazoned across the chest, as seen in the photos
The other moped operator wore a red sweatshirt and covered his face with a black-and-white mask to shield his identity
The victims ranged from ages 19 to 72, including a 72-year-old woman and a 70-year-old man, both of whom were shot in the leg, in addition to seven other men and another woman. All were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, according to police.
Three of them were the intended targets, police said.
The most seriously injured victim suffered a gunshot wound to the stomach, NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said.
'The two males immediately extended their arms and began firing in the direction of a group in front of the barber shop down the street,' he said. 'This was, as I can most accurately describe it, a brazen, coordinated attack.'
Three days after the July 31 shooting, the aunt of victim Sandra Lopez said her niece required surgery to remove the bullet lodged in her foot.
'She's very panicked, very shocked,' Lopez told the Daily News. 'She's diabetic, and her blood sugar went up ... She is very, very sick. Very difficult.'
The shooting in her area has Lopez on edge. 'We were going to do something on Sunday but we couldn't after that. My little one goes to school right there. I'm scared sending a little autistic child now.'
Police footage reveals the moment two men approached a crowd in a busy Queens neighborhood and opened fire, injuring 10 people
The men were gang members targeting rivals from the Trinitarios gang during the shooting on a Saturday night in the borough's Corona neighborhood, police said
Police and Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa are offering a combined $30,000 reward for information leading to an arrest
Essig described what was caught in the surveillance footage as 'pretty disturbing.'
'There's just one common theme I want to get out there that's a recurring theme that keeps happening and it has to stop throughout the city. That's gang members, that's guns, multiple guns on the scene, scooters being used, masks and, lastly, unintended targets getting hit. This is unacceptable in our streets of NYC and it has to stop,' he said.
Police said the two gunmen arrived at the scene on foot, but left by jumping on the backs of two mopeds driven by two other men. All four were wearing hooded sweatshirts and masks.
It is unclear which gang was involved, if any, but police said they were clearly targeting three Trinitarios members on the street.
Detectives suspect that the shooting was connected to a years-long feud between the Trinitarios and the Queens-based ABK (Always Banging Kings), according to the Daily News.
It also may be linked to the July 18 murder of Aldair Melchor, 25, who was shot dead on 132nd St. and 32nd Ave. in Flushing by a gunman in a black car sources told the Daily News. Since then, two more shootings have been tied to the ongoing gang war, the sources said.
Police say shots rang out in Corona near 99th Street and 37th Avenue around 11 pm
The two unidentified gunmen opened fire while some bystanders were walking outside a barbershop and others gathered at a nearby restaurant for a birthday party
NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig described the shooting as 'a brazen coordinated attack'
Seven of the people shot were bystanders not affiliated with the feuding NYC gangs
Silaw looked at a vehicle that got hit by gunfire in Corona, Queens on Aug. 2
The Trinitarios gang formed on Ryker's Island jail in 1993 as a means of protecting Hispanic inmates from other gangs. Outside jail, the Trinitarios began in the Marcy Houses in Brooklyn before expanding throughout the city and Long Island.
'We need the community's help on this one,' said Chief of Patrol Juanita Holmes at the news conference. 'Someone's gonna see that video, they're gonna see those still photos, and they're gonna say, I know that clothing, or the video, I know their gait. I know so-and-so walks that way and that's why we're really appealing to the public. Our biggest asset is the public when it comes to solving crimes like this.'
City Council Member Francisco Moya, who represents the district in which the shooting happened, said in a statement provided to CNN, 'The uptick in gun violence has been a reality of daily life in the outer boroughs and for communities of color.
'This is not just a Manhattan problem making headlines because we are concerned about scaring away tourists. We are trying to survive the COVID-19 pandemic – and a gun violence pandemic.'
The NYPD and Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa are offering a combined $30,000 reward for information leading to arrests.
Police gave an update on the shooting at a news conference the following morning. Speaking above was Assistant Chief Galen Frierson, of the NYPD's Patrol Borough Queens North
The most seriously injured victim suffered a gunshot wound to the stomach, NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said
NYPD have not made any arrest and are asking for the public's help gathering information
New York City saw another violent night with seven additional shootings that left 18 people injured or killed in seven additional shootings the same night on July 31.
Less than 30 minutes after the Corona shooting, three women were hit by crossfire when two groups exchanged gunshots in Inwood. The victims included a 78-year-old woman shot in the hand, a 58-year-old woman shot in the leg and a 42-year-old woman grazed in the left arm, the New York Daily News reported.
Five other people were shot in separate incidents between 12am and 5am, two of whom died from their injuries. One was a 32-year-old man who was repeatedly shot in the torso while sitting in his car in Brooklyn at 4.30am.
A second man, 26, was shot in the chest during an unrelated drive by shooting in Crown Heights and died at Kings County Hospital.
As of that horrific night, 1,056 people were hit by gunfire in 898 incidents this year. That's a 12 percent jump from the 938 people shot in the same period last year, according to police data.
The Gun Violence Archive noted the Queens mass shooting as one of five mass shootings that took place that night. Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Kentucky also saw mass shootings where no deaths were reported, GVA reported the next day.
NYPD's CompStat shows a slight increase in total crimes in July 2021 when compared to the same time period last year
Robberies, grand larcenies and felony assaults are among the crimes that are spiking citywide
Shootings this year have steadily increased since January, with a small dip in June and July
