Bronx's Mott Haven neighborhood grapples with a week of violence

The South Bronx neighborhood of Mott Haven was reeling on Friday after multiple, separate shooting incidents that took place in broad daylight left two innocent bystanders injured and a third woman dead this week.

The violence began with the shooting of an 8-year-old boy on Beekman Avenue on Tuesday afternoon. He was struck in the thigh and has since been released from the hospital, according to police.

Two days later and less than half a mile away, two women were struck by bullets around 12:30 p.m. on the corner of East 138th Street and Brook Avenue. A 34-year-old woman was shot in the arm and expected to recover, while a 71-year-old woman was shot in the back and could not be saved.

Late Thursday, police identified that woman as Enriqueta Rivera, a retired mother of three who lived in NYCHA’s Mill Brook houses just around the corner from where she died.

“She helped everybody. She was always there for everybody,” Neliza Abad, Rivera’s youngest daughter, told Gothamist by phone.

Abad, 39, said Rivera had moved to New York from Puerto Rico in 1982, and had spent her career doing maintenance work at the Major League Baseball and Food Network offices in Midtown.

She was too distraught to say more. A lone candle burned in the hallway outside Rivera’s apartment door.

In the 40th Precinct, where the shootings occurred, gun violence has dropped off significantly in the past year. As of last week, shooting incidents were down more than 40% in the precinct, year to date.

Given that statistic, the week’s events have been startling for community members and violence interrupters who work to keep these kinds of incidents at bay. During a press conference on Thursday evening, NYPD Assistant Chief of Patrol Benjamin Gurley said the shootings appeared to have a “crew or gang nexus to them.”

That language sets off alarm bells for people like Melvin Kimbrough, an outreach worker with Save our Streets, a citywide gun violence prevention organization with an office in Mott Haven.

“We do know that there's a lot of gang wars between different communities. Like, this housing project gets along with this housing project, but don't get along with the others,” said Kimbrough, who stopped by the bodega on the corner where Rivera died to check out the scene on Friday morning.

Kimbrough works as a “credible messenger” — usually someone who has gone through the criminal justice system themselves and acts as a mentor and violence interrupter.

“It’s unfortunate that innocent bystanders get caught in the middle because these are not sharpshooters or even real killers. These are actually kids killing each other,” he said.

We can't sit back and just say, ‘Oh, the police, the police, the police ... This is a community effort. The police are a part of the community, but we need to help them.”

Melvin Kimbrough, violence interrupter

Kimbrough gave officers from the 40th Precinct credit for helping to reduce the number of shootings in the area, but emphasized that neighbors need to help, too.

“We need people to be active. We need them to take a stand. We can't sit back and just say, ‘Oh, the police, the police, the police,’” he said. “This is a community effort. The police are a part of the community, but we need to help them.”

Besides adding more community resources for young people, Kimbrough said other solutions to gun violence include cutting down employment barriers for formerly incarcerated people.

In the current system, background checks can be used against job candidates for seven years after their release date, which Kimbrough said is too long to wait.

“If we can maybe speed up the process and everything and maybe get them off the street, then get them to actually make money, then it’s good, “ he said. “As long as they’re not getting money, I can't tell them what not and what to do because I ain't putting no money in their pocket.”

Police said Friday morning that they were still investigating all three incidents.

A 27-year-old man was arrested for his role in shooting the 8-year-old on Beekman Avenue, but no suspects have been arrested yet for Rivera’s shooting. According to police, one man fired shots at another after they’d gotten into a fight.

“Sad. A 71-year old woman in our borough fatally shot walking down the Street mid-afternoon. A 34-year old woman also shot. Outraged. These individuals will be caught. This is not OK,” wrote Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Mike Ali has spent 42 years working at the corner bodega where Rivera and the 34-year-old woman were shot on Thursday. He recalled dialing 911 as they laid on the floor of the store, with the younger woman crying out for help.

“Yesterday it was over [my] head. I’ve never seen it this bad,” he said of the block, noting that it’s a frequent spot for drug dealers.

“This was crazy. I mean I used to see drug dealers here, but now they’re disrespecting the neighborhood. Shooting into the air and killing innocent people,” he said.