By Pete DeMola
Source Times Union, Albany, N.Y.
ALBANY, NY—Six people were shot early Sunday in the city's Pine Hills neighborhood, two critically, in a violent incident that happened near a massive street party that continues to disrupt other residents as college classes return.
Officers were clearing what police described as a "large unruly crowd" fighting with each other on Hudson Avenue between Quail and Ontario streets around 3 a.m.
Participants began to throw glass bottles at officers attempting to break up the melee and empty the street, police said. The location is often the scene of large parties when college classes are back in session in Albany.
While clearing the group, officers heard several shots fired nearby at the intersection of Hamilton and Ontario street, a location one street over from where the officers were responding to the large crowd.
Officers located evidence "consistent with gunshots" on Hamilton Street just east of Ontario Street and discovered five victims at the scene who were shot. A University at Albany statement Sunday said "based on the information shared with the university so far, none of the victims in this morning's shooting was a UAlbany student."
Among the injured were:
- A 20-year-old man from Albany sustained a gunshot wound to the abdomen.
- A 29-year-old man from Albany sustained a gunshot wound to the back.
- A 24-year old man from Albany sustained a gunshot wound to the shoulder.
- A 24-year-old man from Albany sustained a gunshot wound to the shoulder.
- A 19-year-old woman from Schenectady sustained a gunshot wound to the ankle.
All victims were treated at the scene by emergency medical personnel and transported to Albany Medical Center Hospital. The 20-year-old and 29-year-old men were in critical condition Sunday, police said, while the others were in stable condition.
A 17-year-old Schenectady woman later contacted Schenectady police and told them she was shot in the abdomen while on Hamilton Street.
The teenager was transported to Albany Medical Center Hospital with what appear to be non-life threatening injuries.
Police said Sunday it was too early to determine if the shooting was connected with the large crowd on Hudson.
"It's still pretty early in the investigation," Officer Steve Smith said.
The shooting site is in front of the Madison Avenue Playground.
The night before, two men were arrested for allegedly having a loaded .40-caliber handgun on Ontario Street between Hudson and Hamilton streets.
An 18-year-old Albany man and a 22-year-old Cohoes man were each charged with criminal possession of a weapon. The Cohoes man was sent to the Albany County jail while the Albany man was released to the supervision of probation. There is no information that the gun arrest and the shooting are related.
Meanwhile, crews from the city's Department of General Services were seen cleaning up trash on Hudson Avenue on Sunday morning — including the lot where two student houses burned down in May.
Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan said in a statement that the "depraved indifference of firing a gun into a large crowd with police officers literally around the corner shocks the conscience."
While it is not clear if the shooting has any connection to the large crowd one-street over, Sheehan used the statement to also address the partying that often takes place in the neighborhood once students are back for the fall semester.
"Our residents deserve to be safe and that is why stopping the proliferation of illegal guns and those who violently hurt others with guns is our top priority," said Sheehan, who called on student leaders to "work together with my office as well as the Albany Police Department and their school administrations to stop disrupting their neighbors' quality of life and assaulting police officers and to ensure they hold their peers accountable."
UAlbany's statement Sunday said that over the last week, university and city police have done door-to-door visits in areas where students live to let them know "that there is no safe way for them to join large gatherings in midtown."
"Sunday morning's events make that even more alarmingly clear," read the UAlbany statement. "While it also is clear from recent experience that many of the people in these crowds are not college students, we have increased programming on our uptown campus to keep more students uptown on weekend nights. UAlbany has been part of midtown for more than a century and we are committed to continuing to work closely with the city to do what the university can to keep the neighborhood safe for everyone."
Albany police are also proactively increasing their presence in the neighborhood, including placing spotlights at intersections and adding patrols to the area to address the gatherings and other quality of life issues.
Albany Councilman Owusu Anane, who represents the neighborhood, called violence of early Sunday's scale "an outrage."
"As I have said many times, we all have a right to safe streets," Anane said in a statement. "And in conjunction with the mayor's office and police department, we will do all we can to prevent these incidents from occurring, and punish those who terrorize, endanger and harm the residents in our neighborhoods."
The investigation into the shooting is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Albany Police Detective Division at 518-462-8039. Anonymous tips may also be submitted to Capital Region Crime Stoppers online at www.capitalregioncrimestoppers.com or by downloading the free P3 Tips mobile app.
A week ago, police responded to Washington Avenue and Quail Street around 4:10 a.m. for a shooting. Two men were grazed with bullets in that Sunday incident, including a University at Albany student who reported being injured after he got back to the uptown campus.
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