Wild West in Harlem

[Guest guest]

This does not happen very often in NY, and this one was a doozy. The

story also has a very interesting twist that I added at the bottom.

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New York Newsday

Guns blaze in E. Harlem battle

BY LUIS PEREZ AND DARYL KHAN STAFF WRITERS

September 29, 2005

Police officers fired 77 shots during a gun battle in East Harlem

yesterday morning, leaving bullet holes in trees, parked cars, child

safety seats and the security shutter of a store.

In the wake of the shooting, residents expressed astonishment and

fear at the number of shots fired, but relief that no bystanders were injured.

Six officers fired the 77 shots in about two minutes during a gun

battle with a parolee, according to Browne, chief spokesman for the NYPD.

" It was like a revolver with a hundred bullets that was jammed and

kept firing, " said Carmen , 63, a resident who heard the shots.

" It was endless. "

" This is horrible, " said Marilyn Serrano, a resident whose minivan

and child seat were shot up. " I don't feel safe here anymore. "

The gunman, Cedrick Rooks, 25, was hit five times, suffering wounds

to his hip, neck and shoulder, police said. He fired five to seven

shots from a .32-caliber gun, which was recovered at the scene,

police said. Rooks, who was arrested, was in stable condition

yesterday at Harlem Hospital Center.

A patch of blood stained the front of Ralph's Liquor and Wines at 5

E. 115th St., across the street from the Taft Houses. Tinted glass

from broken car windows littered the scene.

Police said the incident began at 12:55 a.m. when officers in an

unmarked anti-crime unit car saw Rooks, who had been walking north on

Fifth Avenue near 112th Street, quickly turn south.

Browne said Rooks may have recognized the unmarked car as a police vehicle.

One of the officers inside the car identified himself and indicated

he wanted to speak with Rooks, Browne said. When the officer again

told Rooks they wanted to talk to him, he bolted, Browne said.

The officers gave chase and were joined by about 10 other officers,

he said. They caught up with Rooks at 115th Street.

Mike Suarez, who lives across the street, heard the shots from his

apartment. " It was Beirut out here, " he said.

Suarez's sport utility vehicle was hit four times. The damage

amounted to about $700, he said.

" It could have been worse, " Suarez said. " It could have been people. "

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The twist: a story in the New York Daily News added the following:

Several cops on the scene complained that NYPD Housing Bureau

Inspection Capt. Salerno, who had been talking to officers

before the shooting, sped off in an unmarked car despite hearing the gunfire.

NYPD officials said the captain could not immediately respond to the

shooting because a frightened civilian had jumped into his car,

possibly thinking it was a livery cab. The captain went to the

shooting scene after getting the civilian out of his car, officials said.