Hunt for Cop Shooter

Two Police Officers Wounded in Fordham Heights Gun Battle

By David Greene

BRONX, NEW YORK, JANUARY 6- A day after NYPD police officer Wenjian Liu was laid to rest, two anti-crime cops were wounded after they responded to a call of a robbery in progress at a deli in Fordham Heights.

Details were still sketchy, but officials say officers from the 46th Precinct anti-crime unit were in the area when an alert of a robbery in progress was reported at a deli located at East 184 Street and Tiebout Avenue at 10:23 p.m. on January 5.

Officials say a 30-year-old male officer was hit in the lower back and left arm and was reported to be in surgery in the wee hours of January 6. The unidentified officer was listed in critical, but stable condition.

The second wounded officer is a 38-year-old male who was shot in the chest and left arm and remains in stable condition at the same hospital.

Officials say that after the gun battle, one suspect fled in a stolen white Chevy Camaro-- that crashed on Park Avenue. Dozens of uniformed officers were brought in to canvas the area for the suspect.

Police would later recover the .45 caliber handgun tossed in a construction site at Fordham Plaza.

Dozens of officers were brought to the area in vans as they shutdown bus service across Fordham Road and briefly halted train service out of the Fordham Road Metro North Station.

Detectives would discover a second vehicle involved, a Nissan Altima outside of Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan and are currently questioning a man being treated for a gun shot wound to the back.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton paid a late-night visit to the officers at the hospital.

Bratton briefed reporters on one officer's condition, saying, "He is currently in the operating room and is listed in critical condition."

By daybreak, police would release a video of the gunman, believed to be still at large. The suspect already in custody had not yet been charged as of Tuesday morning.

One Bronx detective warned, "They'd better turn themselves in because there's not a rock in the world they can hide where we won't find them."

Anyone with any information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS.

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): VCU Defeats Fordham in A-10 Conference Opener

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): VCU Defeats Fordham in A-10 Conference Opener: VCU Defeats Fordham in A-10 Conference Opener #Fordham By Howard Goldin BRONX, NEW YORK, JANUARY 5- The first steps toward March Madness ...

VCU Defeats Fordham in A-10 Conference Opener

VCU Defeats Fordham in A-10 Conference Opener

#Fordham

By Howard Goldin

BRONX, NEW YORK, JANUARY 5- The first steps toward March Madness of 2015 took place on the first weekend of 2015 as the NCAA conferences began their schedules. On Sunday afternoon, the VCU Rams (11-3, 1-0), the pre-season selection of Atlantic-10 coaches and SIDs to finish first in the conference visited the Rose Hill Gym in the Bronx to face the team selected to finish last, the Fordham Rams (5-7, 0-1).

The visitors, under the able direction of Shaka Smart, one of the most respected young coaches in college basketball, exhibited why their havoc defense is so feared. VCU forced 14 Fordham turnovers in each half of the game. Fordham’s 28 turnovers exceeded its 20 field goals. Sunday’s contest was the fifth for VCU in which its’ opponents turnovers were equal to or exceeded its field goals. VCU scored 36 points off Fordham’s turnovers, nearly 50 percent of its 75 points, contrasted with Fordham’s 11 scored off VCU’s uncharacteristic 17 turnovers. 

The coaches of both teams spoke of the importance of turnovers in the result. Fordham coach Tom Pecora explained, “28 turnovers, that’s the key. It’s all about ball security.” Smart told reporters, “With some teams, if we apply a lot of pressure, we can get a lot of turnovers.” 

For the fifth straight game, VCU led from start to finish. They scored the first seven points of the contest. Freshman Terry Larrier netted a three at 10:54. In the next minute, 6-3 junior Melvin Johnson followed with two lay-ups. The production of the two Bronx natives gave VCU its first double digit advantage. 

Fordham cut the deficit to single figures in the last five minutes of the half.

Fordham began the second half with a 7-1 scoring run that cut the lead to a single point, 38-37, at 18:35. The short spurt was followed by VCU scoring 14 unanswered points to bring the score to 52-37 six minutes later. The double figure led remained for the final 12 minutes of the game that ended with a VCU victory by a score of 75-58.

Interesting to the nearly full house in the Bronx gym was the fact that two starters on the Virginia university five were natives of the Bronx while not one of the players for Fordham were born in the borough. Melvin Johnson, a junior, has improved his stats each season. Last year, he started 7 of 33 games but averaged double figures in points, 10.4, and was named the Atlantic-10 Sixth Man of the Year. He has started all 14 of the Rams’ games this year and is second in scoring and in minutes played on the team. Johnson scored nine, and had two rebounds, two assists and two steals in 22 minutes against Fordham.

Terry Larrier, a 6-8 freshman, made his first start of the season in his native borough. The most highly rated recruit for VCU since Kendrick in 1991, in 24 minutes on the court on Sunday, scored eight and had one rebound, assist and steal.

Fordham senior Mandell Thomas had a double-double, 14 points and 10 rebounds in the losing cause. Freshman Eric Paschal led Fordham scoring with 15. Sophomore Jon Severe, after an absence of seven games, scored nine in 20 minutes of action.  The VCU coach spoke of Fordham’s youngsters, “I like Fordham’s young players. They just have to get better.”

The Fordham women, on a three point basket by Danielle Padovano with 1.7 seconds on the clock in overtime, edged the Richmond Spiders, 65-64, in the second game of the home doubleheader for Fordham.

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Fordham Ends 2014 with a Win

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Fordham Ends 2014 with a Win: Fordham Ends 2014 with a Win #Fordham #Basketball By Howard Goldin BRONX, NEW YORK, JANUARY 2- The Fordham Rams men’s basketball team (5-6) ...

Fordham Ends 2014 with a Win

Fordham Ends 2014 with a Win

#Fordham #Basketball

By Howard Goldin

BRONX, NEW YORK, JANUARY 2- The Fordham Rams men’s basketball team (5-6) ended 2014 by achieving their most one-sided victory of the season. The 74-54 win over the South Carolina State Bulldogs (4-11) was their second straight win over a team from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) within four days.

The visitors scored the first five points. A jumper by Fordham freshman Chris Sengfelder at 16:45 gave the Rams their first lead of the game. The advantage remained in effect for little more than one minute. The next Fordham lead did not come until more than 10 minutes later, also on a basket by Sengfelder. The half ended with Fordham leading 37-32 after concluding the half with an 18-8 scoring run. Sengfelder’s 12 points on 5 of 7 from the floor were the only double figure performance in the half.

After the half-time break, the Rams continued their onslaught by scoring the first 12 points of the second half to increase their advantage to 17 points, 49-32, with 15:33 left in the contest. The lead never again fell below 14. An end of the game scoring run of 8-2 gave the Rams a decisive win, 74-54.

The disparity in shooting percentage between the two teams deepened in the second half. Fordham’s rose from 48.4 to 56.5 while the Rams’ defense affected a decline in the shootings of the Bulldogs from 40.6 to 29.6.

Sengfelder led all scorers with his career high of 22 points. The native of Germany shot 9 of 13 from the floor and 4 of 5 from the free throw line. As 6 of his 9 baskets were layups, the 6-8 forward gave credit for his high point total to the Fordham guards, “The point guards do a great job of finding me.” 

Fordham’s superiority under the boards was reflected in their 42 points in the paint contrasted with 22 by the Bulldogs. Fordham’s coach Tom Pecora discussed the improvement of the guards on his team, “The guards are doing a better job finding the bigger guys where they can more easily score. It was the second game in a row with 20 assists”

The Atlantic 10 Conference schedule begins on the following weekend. One of the better teams in the conference, VCU, begins 2015 against the Rams at the Rose Hill Gym on January 4. 

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Grandma Killed on New Years

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Grandma Killed on New Years: Grandma Killed on New Years Grandson has Standoff with Cops #NYPD #Standoff (Photo by David Greene) By David Greene BRONX, NEW YORK, JANU...

Grandma Killed on New Years

Grandma Killed on New Years

Grandson has Standoff with Cops

#NYPD #Standoff

(Photo by David Greene)

By David Greene

BRONX, NEW YORK, JANUARY 2- A deranged man shattered a peaceful Throggs Neck street when he created a standoff with police after allegedly killing his 87-year-old grandmother.

Celebratory balloons were still hanging on a staircase of a Hollywood Avenue home as a small army of police confronted a deranged man who held police at bay for nearly 90 minutes on New Year's morning.

Officers from the 45th Precinct were called to 633 Hollywood Avenue at just before 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, January 1, and were met by the suspect who pelted them with household items including several chairs, dishes, even a blow-dryer.

Several squads of the elite Emergency Service Unit and an armored vehicle, as well as members of the NYPD's Hostage Negotiation Team, were called to the scene as police climbed through fences and backyards surrounding the two-story home.

Residents were ordered back into their homes as police confronted the combative man, only dressed in a pair of shorts-- across the street from I.S. 192, which was closed for the holiday.

One 52-year resident of the block was in shock as she walked out of her home and witnessed the chaotic scene. "No I've never seen anything like this. This is sick, what is this world coming to."

As police attempted to negotiate with the man, three people who escaped from inside the home were transported to Jacobi Hospital in stable condition.

Police say a 67-year-old female was treated for an arm injury, a 55 year-old male suffered head trauma and a 56 year-old female sustained a laceration to her face.

Unconfirmed reports stated that the man was quoting scripture and ranting about the coming apocalypse-- as he tossed items off the balcony at police.

Upon entry to the bedroom where the suspect remained barricaded, police apparently used a stun-gun to subdue the suspect and he was placed into a waiting ambulance where paramedics treated him for a leg injury.

Once inside police discovered the body of the suspect’s grandmother, identified as 87 year-old Alice Durso. Police had reported that a shotgun may have been in the home, but one police source stated that Durso had suffered severe head trauma and may have been killed with the broken leg of a wooden table.

The still-unidentified 48-year-old suspect remains in police custody at Jacobi Hospital where he will undergo psychiatric evaluation.

Inside the ambulance the suspect told paramedics he is bipolar.

Durso's husband Vincent, 75, made headlines after he disappeared on April 20, 2010, after a day of tennis in Crotona Park. Police recovered his 1997 Honda Accord, but his body was never found.

Durso's murder in Throggs Neck was not the first murder in New York City in 2015, that distinction went to Melrose where Herb Huntley, 26, was shot to death inside the lobby of a building at St. Mary's Houses.