Police on Thursday arrested and charged the man they say fatally stabbed a teenager and injured another during a wild Bronx brawl earlier this week.
According to police sources, 38-year-old Travis Profit was fingered for fatally stabbing 18-year-old Shannon Kelsey in broad daylight along a bustling commercial strip. Cops say the chaos unfolded at around 4 p.m. Tuesday on Southern Boulevard and Westchester Avenue.
Several law enforcement sources with knowledge of the incident allege that a group of teens attempted to rob Profit, who reportedly was selling drugs at the time. The confrontation escalated into an out-of-control melee, ending with Profit allegedly chasing down the youths and stabbing and slashing them.
Kelsey was stabbed in the chest, piercing his heart, while a 15-year-old boy suffered a laceration to his lip. Amid the chaos, an unknown gunman shot Profit, striking him in the left leg. Police originally believed that Kelsey suffered a gunshot wound himself but later confirmed he had been stabbed.
“People were running in my store screaming that somebody had been shot,” a worker in a local GameStop said.
Kelsey collapsed outside of a local Dunkin Donuts in a pool of blood, leaving splatter on the sidewalk and doorway. A local fruit vendor told amNewYork that he saw the teens fleeing before they crumbled to the ground.
“They looked really young. Police and firefighters came and were giving him a chest massage,” he said. “There was blood coming out of his nose.”
Kelsey was rushed to Lincoln Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The 15-year-old was rushed to Harlem Hospital in stable condition. Meanwhile, Profit took himself to Harlem Hospital. The gunman remains unidentified and at large.
Detectives later questioned Profit at the NYPD 41 precinct, where they charged him with Kelsey’s death. Profit was moved out of the station house by detectives on Thursday evening, where he could be seen limping in shackles and wearing handcuffs. amNewYork asked if he had anything to say about the slaying, but he refused to comment.
Profit is charged with murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, three counts of assault, and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon.
