NEW YORK \u2014 As the NYPD touts historic low crime rates across New York City, newly released data shows a disturbing trend in the Bronx: The city\u2019s fourth largest borough by population accounts for half of the city\u2019s murders so far this year.<\/p>\n
Through March 1, the Bronx had accounted for 16 of the city\u2019s 32 homicides, 45% of its shooting victims and 44% of its shooting incidents.<\/p>\n
Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark, called that <\/a>\u201cas tragic as it is intolerable,\u201d in a statement Friday.<\/p>\n NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch Monday announced that NYC set records for the fewest homicides and shooting victims in recorded history for January and February. Citywide, homicides and shooting victims are down this year, with 32 murders and 99 people shot through Sunday, compared to 55 murders and 112 people shot by the same time last year.<\/p>\n But in the Bronx, homicides are up by 14% from the same time frame last year, and shooting victims are up 15%. And since 2022, the Bronx has accounted for about 30 to 33% of the city\u2019s yearly homicide totals, NYPD stats show.<\/p>\n \u201cSadly, the Bronx has been under-resourced for decades. I have pleaded with our officials for years to address poverty, employment, housing and healthcare concerns that are root causes of crime,\u201d Clark said. \u201cThe areas experiencing a high level of violence are still the same areas that endured it in the 1980s.\u201d<\/p>\n Freshman City Council member, Justin Sanchez,<\/a> who reps the city\u2019s 17th district, encompassing parts of the South Bronx, said the statistic was \u201cvery alarming.\u201d The council member said the Bronx is in need of more community crime prevention programming to address the root causes of crime.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s clear that as a city we need to be doing everything possible to provide the Bronx with the resources we need to curb this startling trend back down,\u201d said Sanchez, who was born and raised in the borough.<\/p>\n Bloodshed in the Bronx<\/p>\n The city\u2019s first murder of 2026 was in the Bronx, just before 7 a.m. on Jan. 1 when immigrant Uber driver, Issa Mbolo Isac was fatally shot in the head<\/a> in what cops believe was a road rage incident after he got into a fender bender with his killer.<\/p>\n Mbolo Isac, 55, lived in Throgs Neck in the Bronx and was finishing up a late night shift when he was killed inside his blue Toyota RAV4 in Morris Heights. He was married with four children who live in Burkina Faso in West Africa, relatives said.<\/p>\n \u201cHe had a very good heart, and he worked very hard to support his family,\u201d the Uber driver\u2019s brother Mounir Zoron, 35, said at the time. \u201cHe never had any problems with anybody. He was trying to run away from them and they shot him.\u201d<\/p>\n The city\u2019s first shooting in the subway system<\/a> this year was also in the Bronx. It took place inside the 170th Street station<\/a> at East 170th Street and Grand Concourse in Mount Eden at about 2:56 p.m. on Feb. 10, when 41-year-old Adrian Dawodu was shot and killed on the Manhattan-bound D and B trains platform, cops said.<\/p>\n The victim\u2019s ex-girlfriend, Courtney McEaddy, 40, told the News he leaves behind two brothers and a sister.<\/p>\n \u201cHe dealt with mental health issues, but I loved him,\u201d she said. \u201cHe was living in a shelter but he was trying to get his life together.\u201d<\/p>\n A day after Dawodu was killed, 16-year-old Christopher Redding, was fatally shot in the back <\/a>outside the Bronx Alehouse<\/a> on West 238th Street near Putnam Avenue in Kingsbridge shortly after 5 p.m.. Two other victims, a 15-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl, were both struck in their right legs.<\/p>\n Redding attended Kennedy High School where he was a star running back on the varsity football team, his grieving father said.<\/p>\n A 17-year-old boy has been arrested in connection with the triple shooting and charged with murder, attempted murder, manslaughter and criminal weapon possession. Cops said the slaying was gang motivated, despite Redding having no criminal record.<\/p>\n \u201cMy boy was in the wrong place at the wrong time,\u201d the teen\u2019s father, Bryan Corley said. \u201cIt\u2019s a real tragedy. Everybody\u2019s world has been ripped apart.\u201d<\/p>\n Another high schooler was shot and killed in the Bronx walking home from school on Wednesday. Lamar Simmons, 19, was shot in the chest<\/a> at East 183rd Street and Hughes Avenue in Belmont about 2:05 p.m. He was less than half a mile from home when he was slain in broad daylight.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was a good kid. He was doing what he had to do. He was trying to finish school,\u201d said the victim\u2019s sister, 30-year-old Letesha Simmons previously said. \u201cHe never caused anyone any trouble. He was barely outside. I\u2019m just at a loss for words right now.\u201d<\/p>\n No arrests have been made.<\/p>\n Bloodshed in the borough continued Friday morning when 27-year-old Jayvontae Simmons was fatally shot in the back of the head at about 6:35 a.m. inside the lobby of an apartment building on East 165th Street near Tinton Avenue<\/a> in the NYCHA Forest Houses complex. No arrests have been made.<\/p>\n Deeper problems<\/p>\n David Caba, who serves as Senior Vice President of anti-violence group, Bronx Rises Against Gun Violence<\/a> (B.R.A.G.) said the borough\u2019s homicide rate needs to bee seen in the context of broader social problems wracking the borough.<\/p>\n Bronx county ranks poorly in a number of key socioeconomic categories, including median income, high school graduation rates and overall life expectancy.<\/p>\n The borough\u2019s median household income in 2023 was $48,610, roughly 39% less than the citywide median household income of $79,480, according to data compiled by NYU\u2019s Furman Center.<\/a> The borough\u2019s poverty rate in 2023 was 27.9% compared to just 18.2% citywide.<\/p>\n Of the five boroughs, the Bronx ranked lowest for high school graduation rates at 77.3% compared to the citywide average of 82.6 in 2021, according to Equity NYC<\/a> stats. The life expectancy for Bronx residents is 78.7 years old, the second lowest in the state.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are 62 counties in the state of New York, and the Bronx ranks number 62 in the majority of those negative statistics. So that is the answer at the end of the day,\u201d said Caba, who was born and raised in the South Bronx. \u201cIn the long term picture, you [have to] improve those areas. Look at any thriving community, you\u2019ll find that they have excellent school, excellent healthcare, excellent housing, excellent employment.\u201d<\/p>\n He said gang culture, which often goes hand in hand with poverty, is a driver of violence in the borough.<\/p>\n Caba said he was raised in a poor South Bronx neighborhood by his single mother. By the time he was in the second grade, gangs were relentlessly trying to recruit him.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile mom was working and we got out of school, we went to schools that don\u2019t have a lot of resources, you start to fend for yourself. I ended up realizing, \u2018Okay, I\u2019m going to have to defend myself, keep myself safe,\u201d he said. \u201cI would watch the older individuals, the ones that I had to look up to\u2026 What they basically did was inflict pain and punishment on others and the rewards were power, profit and prestige. I was being mentored.\u201d<\/p>\n Going down this road cost Caba, \u201ca loss of freedom and violent injuries\u201d but he said he turned things around before losing his life.<\/p>\n Caba\u2019s organization, which is run by nonprofit, Good Shepherd Services<\/a>, covers the 46th, 47th and 52nd NYPD precincts, and aims to remediate violence in these high-risk communities through canvassing, hospital responding and youth programming. Caba said organizations like his need more funding from the city to expand their efforts.<\/p>\n The NYPD responds<\/p>\n Tisch, the NYPD Commissioner, acknowledged the need to address the violence in the Bronx, announcing last month<\/a> that 200 additional officers will be assigned to the Bronx after it is divided into separate North and South borough commands this spring. Patrol boroughs are commands that oversee local police precinct operations. Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn have two patrol boroughs, while the Bronx and Staten Island have only had one.<\/p>\n \u201cFor too long, the Bronx has experienced more crime per capita than any other borough while operating under a structure that has not kept pace with the demands placed on it,\u201d Tisch said, during her State of the NYPD address<\/a>.<\/p>\n The borough accounted for more than a third of all shooting incidents and shooting victims citywide in 2025, roughly three times the more populated boroughs of Queens and Manhattan, she noted.<\/p>\n The department will also be adding specialized units into the borough this spring including homicide squad detectives, evidence collection teams, narcotics teams, neighborhood safety teams and auto crime units, Tisch said.<\/p>\n The district attorney said she welcomes the NYPD\u2019s plan, which will put the Bronx on \u201cequal footing\u201d with other boroughs\u2019 crime-fighting force.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe it will lead to more opportunities to prevent crimes, expedite response times and solve crimes,\u201d Clark said.<\/p>\n