By Carol Tannenhauser

At 9 pm Tuesday night, a 19-year-old man was shot one time in the head at 67 West 109th Street, off of Columbus Avenue, an NYPD spokesman told WSR. “A white sedan, possibly a Mercedes, pulled up to the location and a weapon discharged a round, striking the individual in the head, witnesses said. The car fled the scene and the victim was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital, in critical condition.”

Gun violence in the city has been escalating in past weeks. “The latest numbers are stark: 53 people were shot — four fatally — from Friday through Monday, the police said. Over the Fourth of July weekend, the police reported 64 shootings,” The New York Times reported. “For the year, as of Sunday, there had been 634 shootings in 2020, compared with 394 in same period in 2019.“