Career criminal charged in stray-bullet NYC shooting of 17-year-old girl tied to post-parade violence
A 35-year-old man was charged with attempted murder in the Midtown shooting; a 14-year-old is charged in a nearby stabbing as investigators link the incidents to gang activity after the Mexican Day Parade.
A career criminal was charged with attempted murder in the stray-bullet shooting of a 17-year-old girl in Midtown Manhattan, an incident police said may be tied to gang violence that erupted after the Mexican Day Parade.
Police said the shooting occurred around 5 p.m. Sunday at the corner of 27th Street and Park Avenue in Rose Hill, moments after a stabbing nearby left a 24-year-old man injured. The 17-year-old girl was shot in the left shoulder and transported to Bellevue Hospital, where she was listed in stable condition. In a related cluster of violence in the area, investigators described a stabbing near 28th Street and Madison Avenue that left the same man wounded; the 14-year-old suspect in that knifing was arrested and charged with gang assault.
Police identified the shooter as Joe Nieves, 35, of the Bronx, and charged him with attempted murder, assault and criminal possession of a weapon. Investigators said Nieves was part of a group that included the 14-year-old suspect in the stabbing, and that both episodes appeared to be linked to gang activity after the parade’s end, although police could not immediately confirm any gang affiliations for the suspects.
Nieves has 10 prior arrests, with the most recent for reckless endangerment in July 2023, according to police records. He also has a prior arrest for criminal possession of a weapon in October 2017, the sources said. The 14-year-old suspect in the stabbing remains in custody on related charges, and authorities have not released all identifying details of the juveniles involved.
The investigation is ongoing, with detectives reviewing surveillance footage and seeking additional information from witnesses. Police officials emphasized that the shootings and stabbing appear gang-related according to preliminary descriptions, even as they continue to verify specific affiliations for those involved.