By: Tareq Saghie
Asylum seekers housed at a Clinton Hill emergency migrant shelter complex say they now live in fear after two men were shot in front of them Sunday night, minutes after another man was shot in a nearby playground.
Witnesses reported mayhem outside the shelter at 29 Ryerson St. on July 21 around 10:50pm, after two masked gunmen pulled up on mopeds and shot two men multiple times.
One of the victims was identified as Enny Dejesus Urbina Mendez, 21, a resident of the 4,000-person shelter complex, according to the New York City Police Department. He was announced dead at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue.
The second victim, a 59-year-old man, was left in critical condition, according to the New York Post. A friend on the scene told BK Reader he is known as Pedro.
According to four asylum seekers who were on Ryerson Street during the shooting, many people were hanging out in front of the shelter as they normally do. Unaware that a murder had just taken place minutes before in nearby Washington Hall Park, witnesses said they saw a masked man on a black moped come down the street. The man fired his gun into the air. Then, a second masked man appeared on another black moped, witnesses said.
The two men on the mopeds identified their two victims and began shooting, witnesses said. The gunmen then shot two more bullets into the air before driving off.
Amadou Sadjo Barry, 27, an asylum seeker, recalled in French through a translator, that he was steps away from the shooter when gunfire erupted.
“There were like 50 people, but they just chose the two guys and shot them. When they tried to shoot again, everyone tried to run. The guy they was shooting, he was sitting, but didn’t move. The second one, he was sitting on a police barricade and when the gun shot, he [fell back over it],” said Barry. “I didn’t sleep well yesterday. I couldn’t sleep well because the sound of the gunshot is stuck in my ear.”
Shelter staff immediately called 911, according to shelter residents who were on the scene. The video shows the NYPD and Emergency Medical Technicians arriving shortly thereafter and attempting CPR.
Barry said he arrived in New York from Guinea seven months ago and has witnessed several violent incidents in his short time here. In March, he saw a man get shot in Tompkins Square Park: “I crossed the border and left my country because of violence, but I come here and see the same thing,” said Barry. “I was very scared yesterday.”
Pedro Jose, a 21-year-old asylum seeker from Nicaragua who declined to give his last name, said he was drinking on Ryerson Street as the shooting unfolded. Jose was formerly a resident of the shelter on Ryerson Street, but said he is now homeless and lives outside of the shelter complex. Jose said the two men who were shot, Mendez and Pedro, were his friends and were smoking a joint before the incident. When the gunmen arrived, they immediately locked in on his two friends, he said.
“First we looked, and asked what this could be. After we heard the shot, another motorcycle entered. He came down and shot him,” Jose said in Spanish. “We didn’t run. Everyone was down, because we were afraid that they would shoot again while we were running and it would hit us.”
Shootings were down 3% citywide over the last 28 days, compared to the same period last year, according to NYPD data. The man killed in front of the shelter is among the four people who were killed by guns over the weekend, including the man shot at the nearby playground, identified by the NYPD as Arturo Jose Rodriguez Marcano, 30.
“We mourn this senseless loss of life and remain committed to fighting all gun violence across our city,” said a spokesperson for Council Member Crystal Hudson, who represents the district where the shelter is located.
Hudson has supported the shelter as an emergency response to the surge of asylum seekers that have arrived in the city since spring 2023, all the while acknowledging that smaller shelters are preferable. A vocal group of local residents have been persistent in criticizing this stance, claiming that the shelter is inhumane to its residents and brings crime to the neighborhood.
“We must do more to protect our communities from the dangers of gun violence and ensure that all our neighbors have access to the support they need and feel safe on our streets,” said New York State Attorney General Letitia James in a statement.
Aliou Diallo, who arrived from Guinea in December, witnessed the aftermath through his window.
Diallo, 26, said he came to the U.S. in search of security, but now feels that New York is unsafe for asylum seekers like him.
“After this thing happened, I am now so scared about New York to be honest. It’s so scary,” said Diallo. “I’m scared about that area, but I don’t have a choice because I don’t have another house where I’m supposed to go.”
A spokesperson for the NYPD said the shooters have yet to be identified and no arrests have been made. The investigation is ongoing.
