Another weekend, another teen shooting. Last night, residents gathered on East 9th Street for a candlelight vigil, part of a worldwide candle lighting service. Less than 48 hours earlier, bullets rang out once again at the Campos Plaza public housing development four blocks away. As The Local East Village and EV Grieve reported, police were swarming Friday night around the troubled complex, where a 19-year old man was shot in the leg. No suspects have been arrested.
The vigil took place outside the apartment of Aida Salgado, whose son Keith was shot and killed at Campos Plaza in October. Residents lamented the cycle of violence that has taken so many young lives and read the names of teen victims. Just last week, some of these same people were assembled in the gym at Campos Plaza, where elected officials and the Police Athletic League announced a new recreational program to get kids off the street.
The second night of that program had wrapped up a few hours before the shooting in the Campos Plaza Community Center. According to residents, a late night private event was being held in the facility when the violence erupted. They believe a group with ties to another housing development came looking for trouble. The first shots, they said, were fired just outside the community center. The bullets continued to fly as teens ran across a courtyard to East 12th Street.
As we reported last week, there are no security cameras at Campos (although there is a plan to install a security system in the next few months). There are cameras, however, mounted on the exterior of a Social Security Administration office across from the housing project, on 12th Street.
The teen victim is hospitalized in stable condition.
