\u201cWe have to demand accountability\u2014we have to demand where these guns are coming from,\u201d McCall said.
\n![\"Rev.](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20260421_184548-rotated.jpg\")
Rev. Kevin McCall demands accountability for the death of 78-year old Edgar Spence. Photo by Emily Swanson.\n<\/p>\n
According to police, the shooting occurred around 10:25 a.m. on April 16 at Mitchel Houses, located at 300 East 138th Street, and is believed to be gang-related.<\/p>\n
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said members of the ABG gang \u2014short for \u201cAnybody Gets It\u201d\u2014 were gathered for a vigil for a gang member who died in 2023. Mitchel Houses is considered ABG territory.<\/p>\n
During the gathering, a large group affiliated with the Nine Racks Crips entered the area and confronted ABG members. When gunfire erupted, one group fired into the NYCHA development and the other returned fire. Spence, 78, was sitting nearby.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s sitting outside with his brother, eating and drinking, and he catches one to the chest, hits his heart, pierces his aorta, he bleeds internally and dies,\u201d Kenny said.<\/p>\n
Police have identified two shooters involved. Eight shots were fired in total.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIt could be as simple as mistaken identity, but you\u2019re in Mitchell, that\u2019s your area. When you see a group of 30 people walking in, they think it\u2019s on, so they pull out and start shooting at the group, and then they shoot back, so that it\u2019s quite common for people to be mistaken as the ops,\u201d Kenny said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd unfortunately, you get shot. And then you got this poor guy sitting out there drinking a beer, and he catches one to the chest,\u201d he added.\n<\/p>\n
Police are still pulling and reviewing surveillance video. They are submitting it to facial recognition in an attempt to identify those involved. Both groups are subsets of Crips.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to learn to leave the neighborhood\u201d<\/p>\n
Judy Brandon, 71, who lived in Mitchel Houses until 2002, returned to the neighborhood for the vigil. She still volunteers at a nearby senior center and said she remained close with Spence.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur last words to one another were \u2018I love you,\u2019 and he said he loved me,\u201d Brandon said. \u201cI used to tease him and say, \u2018You the man,\u2019 and he\u2019d give me this big, wide grin.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brandon said the neighborhood has changed significantly since she left.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t sit out at night anymore,\u201d she said. \u201cI stopped about 15 years ago because of things like this. Sometimes you hear gunshots in the community\u2014it might be a few blocks away.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to learn to leave the neighborhood and not come in the daytime,\u201d she added.\n<\/p>\n
Additional reporting by Dean Moses.\n<\/p>\n
Reach Marina Samuel at\u00a0msamuel@schnepsmedia.com<\/a>. For more coverage, subscribe to our\u00a0newsletter<\/a>\u00a0and follow us on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and Instagram!<\/a><\/p>\n