ALBANY – Increased numbers of law enforcement will be in Albany “for the foreseeable future” after a spate of recent shootings in the city, including its third homicide in a week on Wednesday, Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan said.
The announcement Wednesday came after a series of shootings since last Thursday. There were two more shootings Wednesday, with one victim killed. Another person was struck and critically injured by a stray bullet, police said. A third person was also injured.
“I am outraged to learn of two more instances of gun violence occurring in the city of Albany,” Sheehan said in a statement issued Wednesday afternoon. “One shooting is too many, and the trend that we are experiencing is unacceptable and unbearable. Our residents deserve better, and our city deserves better.”
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The “enhanced law enforcement presence” is to include both state police and Albany County sheriff’s deputies supporting city police, Sheehan said.
“The safety of our residents is our top priority and we remain committed to the strategies we know are effective at disrupting the violence,” her statement continued.
Wednesday’s first shooting happened at 1:20 p.m. in the area of South Pearl Street and Morton Avenue. Police arrived to find a man who had been shot multiple times in the torso.
He was treated at the scene and taken to Albany Medical Center, where he later died of his wounds, police said.
The second shooting Wednesday saw a woman critically injured inside a car at about 2:15 p.m. in the area of First and Quail streets.
Officers found the woman suffering from a gunshot wound to her neck. She had been a passenger in the car when she was struck by a stray bullet, police said.
She was treated at the scene and taken to Albany Medical Center in critical condition.
Shortly afterward, a man determined to have been shot in the First and Quail incident walked into Albany Medical Center with a gunshot wound to his arm, police said. His injury was considered non-life-threatening.
Both incidents remained under investigation later Wednesday, police said.
The stretch began last Thursday, a day that saw four separate shootings within 16 hours that injured 12, including one person who died. The person killed was identified as 34-year-old Niskayuna resident Dwayne Fenner.
The second homicide happened Saturday evening on North Lake Avenue, near First Street. Killed in that shooting was 24-year-old Albany resident William E. Hooks III.
Anyone with information on any of the shootings is asked to contact Albany police at 518-462-8039.
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Categories: -News-, Schenectady County
