By David Greene

 

Two teenagers are dead and at least 10 others are recovering from gunshot wounds after a night of bloody gun violence across the borough.

 

It was a busy night for members of the NYPD who were called to the scene of nine separate shootings over a 12-hour period on Saturday, August 7th.

 

Police say the mayhem began when a person was found shot at 9:25 p.m., at 2336 Creston Avenue at Field Place. A second unidentified victim was discovered shot in the back at 12:40 a.m., outside the Jackson Houses at 3080 Park Avenue in Concourse Village.

 

The first of the two fatal shootings took place at a house party in the Mt. Eden Section at 2:45 a.m. Police say a knock at the 6th-floor apartment at 1454 Grand Concourse followed with gunfire.

 

The host of the party, Demetrius "Ali" Jones, 19, was shot in the back and died at the scene. A 16-year-old girl and an 18-year-old female were both shot in the arm and an 18-year-old man was also shot in the back. They were transported to various hospitals.

 

One friend of the victim recalled, "He was an all right kid. I think he was in school." The friend, who declined to give his name, speculated, "They're saying that this girl brought a few dudes that didn't like him and they knocked on the door and started shooting."

 

The friend who is also a resident of the building says the building is the only one on the block without video surveillance. Hours after the shooting liquor bottles and paramedics’ rubber gloves littered the hallway.

 

Fifteen minutes later and about a mile away, police were called to 1160 Cromwell Avenue, where police and friends say Alexis Abreu, 16, was shot once in the back, just steps from his front door. Abreu was rushed to Lincoln Hospital where he died a short time later.

 

A life-long Yankees fan who lived in the shadow of Yankee Stadium all his life, Abreu was set to return to school in September and had dreams of being a ballplayer. One distraught friend stated, "He was coming home at 3 o'clock in the morning, and a car drove by and shot him."

 

The friend, who also declined to give her name said she traveled to the hospital after the shooting and recalled, "When I got to the hospital I heard on the news that nine people were shot and when I came out I heard that 10 people were shot, it was a bad night."

 

Other shootings were reported at 2:50 a.m. at Arthur Avenue and E. Tremont Avenue, 1400 Doris Avenue at Westchester Avenue, 509 Morris Avenue and 2120 Randall Avenue. One of the victims reportedly remains on life support but the rest of the victims are expected to recover.

 

The violence comes days after an anti-violence rally was held on the steps of the Bronx County Courthouse.

 

The shootings prompted Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., to issue a statement that read in part, "Last night's wave of violence is extremely alarming, not only to myself but to the overwhelming majority of my constituents: 1.4 million Bronx residents who want to do nothing more than work, raise their families and live their lives in peace."

 

Diaz added, "Those responsible for these shootings must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Those who would turn to a gun as the answer to their problems have no place in decent society. This has to stop." Diaz vowed to sit down with officials from the NYPD and the Bronx District Attorney's office in an effort to come up with new strategies to combat gun violence.

 

The latest NYPD statistics reveal murder is up 23 percent in the borough from a year ago with 70 shootings so far this year, but is still dramatically down from a decade ago.