Detectives in the Bronx are busy investigating three separate deadly shootings in the borough from Labor Day Weekend— including a drive-by shooting during a funeral service.
The most ghastly of the three murders occurred in Parkchester on Sept. 3, where a 37-year-old man was killed and a 27-year-old man was injured when shooters rolled up to a crowd attending the funeral of a murder victim and opened fire.
Detectives are now investigating a possible link between the shooting and gang activity in the borough.
Law enforcement sources said the crowd gathered outside the Parkchester Funeral Home, located at 1430 Unionport Road, at about 7:08 p.m. on Sept. 3 attending services for Demetry Aristole, 29, who was gunned down on Aug. 27 at the corner of 137th Street and St. Ann’s Avenue in Mott Haven.
As the service was in progress, sources familiar with the case said, the unidentified shooter pulled up to the location in a gray Chevrolet Equinox and began firing into the crowd. Some of the funeral attendees apparently shot back at the vehicle as the gunman fled the location.
Officers from the 43rd Precinct, in responding to shooting, found Leshaun Whitefield, 37, of Frederick Douglas Boulevard in the Bronx shot in the chest. The 27-year-old victim, meanwhile, took a bullet to his right leg.
EMS rushed both victims to Jacobi Hospital, where Whitefield died a short time later. The 27-year-old man was listed in stable condition.
So far, no arrests have been made in connection with the shooting, police said.
