NYPD Deploys More Police to Harlem After Daytime Shooting Injures 7-Year-Old
The NYPD is assigning 12 officers to foot patrols along 145th Street near Bradhurst Avenue in Hamilton Heights after a 7-year-old girl was shot and injured there on Monday afternoon. This deployment comes as residents express growing concerns about safety in Harlem and Hamilton Heights following several recent daytime shootings in the area. While overall crime is trending down, as per NYPD data, the increase in daytime violence has left neighbors feeling uneasy—especially with the shooting of a small child amplifying those fears.
“It got worse,” said longtime resident Keith Gavins. “Every time you step out the door, you’re in danger. It’s just these gang members getting out of hand.”
Ryan Bauer-Walsh, who runs the Hamilton Heights neighborhood Facebook page, has been advocating for more police resources for some time. “The reason I started the community group was so that we could have a forum to discuss how to help situations,” he said. “We just keep telling them there are problems.”
He believes the news of additional foot patrols is a significant victory. “Those are going to be people that are on the beat, walking around the streets,” he said. “They will know us, and we will know all of them.”
The location where Fatou Keita was shot falls between the NYPD’s 30th and 32nd Precincts, though officials indicated that the incident occurred in the 32nd Precinct. Police data shows that the 30th Precinct, located west of Bradhurst Avenue, has experienced six shootings this year through Sunday, which is notably lower than the numbers in neighboring precincts.
The 32nd Precinct, covering a section of northeastern Harlem east of Bradhurst Avenue, has reported 16 shootings this year through Sunday, according to NYPD figures—down from 23 shootings at the same point last year. Three other shootings have also been recorded this year near where the girl was shot. Two of these shootings took place during the daytime, including one at 11 a.m. last Saturday, just two days before Keita was struck.
Joaquin Soto-Jerome, 21, feels generally safe in the neighborhood where he grew up but acknowledges ongoing issues with youth violence. “I do know there’s still certain gang activity that happens. I know a lot of young people are causing this havoc, so we’ve got to find a place where they can just stay and play basketball,” he said.
Police reported that a stray bullet hit Keita shortly before 3 p.m. on Monday while she was walking with her father on 145th Street and Bradhurst Avenue. Surveillance footage from a nearby building, shared on social media, shows a burst of gunfire that sent pedestrians fleeing along the busy sidewalk, shattering the window of a nearby Starbucks.
Keita was rushed to the hospital, where she underwent surgery to repair her diaphragm, stomach, and colon, according to court documents.
Police arrested 19-year-old Daniel Idowu and a 17-year-old boy as suspects in the shooting. Both face charges of attempted murder, assault, and criminal possession of a weapon. The criminal complaint alleges that Idowu and the 17-year-old fired a total of nine rounds toward several people at the Starbucks, with Keita—who was not an intended target—being the only individual struck.
Authorities noted that Idowu lives just half a mile from the shooting scene. No one answered the door at his listed address when a reporter knocked on Wednesday, and his lawyer did not respond immediately to a request for comment. The father of the 17-year-old declined to comment when reached by phone on Thursday, and the boy’s lawyer did not respond right away to an inquiry.
@abc7ny Police said Fatou Keita was struck after gang members opened fire in broad daylight. Surveillance video shows the little girl walking with her father who scooped her up when the shots rang out.
