While gun violence in New York remains at a historic low compared to the early ‘90s, there were several incidents this weekend that added to the city’s recent uptick in shootings. The Wall Street Journal reports that there were 11 shooting incidents in four boroughs on Saturday and Sunday. They include the murder of Kenny Jimenez, 21, and Francisco Mercedes, 29, who were talking with friends outside a convenience store at 151st Street and Broadway early on Sunday morning when a hooded man opened fire on the group. A day earlier, three men were wounded in East Harlem’s Thomas Jefferson Park in an incident that may be gang related, and on Sunday morning in Queens four people were injured in Jamaica when a man fired 21 rounds after an argument in front of a house on 118th Avenue. Altogether, 19 people were wounded by Sunday afternoon and no arrests had been made. According to police statistics, between January and the beginning of August, shootings were up 12 percent compared to 2013.
