Bullets Fly at Anti-Violence Gathering

Four-Year-Old Gunned Down
 

By David Greene

BRONX, NEW YORK, July 23- For the second time in two days and the third time in a week, three Bronxites were wounded by a senseless act of violence and in the latest incident-- has claimed the life of a four-year old child.

At just after 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 22, police were called to the Forest Houses at E. 165 Street and Tinton Avenue, where gunfire erupted on the basketball court. A memorial basketball game was being held for another youngster, who died on the surrounding streets of Morrisania.

Police say the victim, Lloyd Morgan, 4, was struck in the head by a stray-shot as 100 residents were watching the end of a two-day memorial basketball tournament that was being held in honor of a 15-year old resident who was stabbed to death last summer.

Paramedics rushed Morgan to Lincoln Hospital, where the child was pronounced dead on arrival.

Police and EMS report a 27-year-old man was shot in the stomach and is reported to be recovering at Lincoln Hospital. A 31-year-old male was hit in the arm and was transported to St. Barnabas Hospital, where the unidentified man is recovering, said to be in stable condition.

Police sources would only say that as many as 20 rounds were fired by two assailants, one brandishing a 9mm, the other a .45-caliber handgun.

After visiting the scene, State Assemblyman Eric Stevenson appeared to have done an about face on the, "Stop-and-frisk" issue, telling reporters, "We should really consider not stopping stop-and-frisk... I'm going to have to start supporting stop-and-frisk."

It appears that distraught father Lloyd Morgan, Sr., 26, can not break away from tragedy-- in 2006 Morgan was unaware that his heavy-set girlfriend Shelly Courcelle was pregnant.

Police would discover that the child had been strangled. Courcelle remains incarcerated after pleading guilty to manslaughter.

Witnesses to the gunfire recalled the pandemonium as the crowd rushed to exit the court, moments after the shooting and how mother's braved the uncertainty of more gunfire in a frantic search of the grounds for their kids.

One resident noted, "The irony is that this was an anti-violence memorial game... I mean, who in their right mind brings a gun to a memorial."

One nearby resident would not go as far as saying that last year's stabbing death and this shooting were related, but predicted more violence, stating, "We haven't seen the end of this."

Forest Houses is a New York City Housing Authority- (NYCHA) run complex made up of 15 buildings that sits on a 19.62-acre parcel of land that houses more than 3,300 residents.