Two murder suspects turned themselves into the 49th Precinct in connection to the shooting of a Morris Park man.
Forty-five-year-old George Carrasquillo was gunned down while sitting in his car on Hone Avenue in Morris Park overnight on Monday, February 5.
Police arrested Joselin Espada, Carrasquillo’s cousin living at 1580 Edison Avenue in Pelham Bay and Nelson Lopez of 4180 Hutchinson River Parkway in Co-op City on February 17.
Both men were charged for murder.
Police believe Espada was the shooter and there was “an ongoing verbal dispute between the parties on the same day prior to the shooting.”
The shooting was described as ‘more of an assassination from something personal.’
The NYPD also confirmed that a dispute was Espada’s alleged motive.
Carrasquillo, had just moved to Morris Park, but previously lived in Hunts Point.
The shooting occurred a short distance past St. Clare of Assisi School property.
Captain Thomas Alps of the 49th Precinct is leading the murder investigation.
“We arrived on the scene to calls of a male possibly shot, he was pronounced dead on the scene,” said Alps.
Carrasquillo was pronounced dead at about 5:30 a.m.
The gun Espada allegedly used was a 40-caliber pistol and Carrasquillo was shot at least six times.
It appeared the two had been waiting for Carrasquillo, whom was sitting in his grey 2017 Ford Explorer.
Incidents like this aren’t something that the Morris Park community is used to seeing.
“This is a very peaceful community, things like this don’t happen over here,” said Al D’Angelo, vice chair of Community Board 11 and president of the Morris Park Community Association. “We’ve stepped up our neighborhood patrols and reached out to the 49th about our concerns,” he added.
Captain Alps and his staff have communicated to Morris Park that this shooting is not gang related and is being viewed as an isolated incident.
Gang violence is not an issue within Morris Park according to local, community leadership.
“We were concerned at first that this was an issue within the community and we communicated that to the police,” said Tony Vitaliano, chairman of CB 11. “They assured the community that this not related to anything,” he added.
Even though suspects are in police custody, the investigation is still ongoing.
“We have evidence retrieved and the investigation is progressing nicely,” said the captain.
“They have great info, I know they’ll wrap this up very soon,” said Vitaliano.
Vitaliano couldn’t recount the last time a shooting like this occurred in Morris Park.
“It was very surprising, this does not happen very often,” said Vitaliano. “Residents have not expressed any concerns over their safety since this incident,” he added.
The investigation is ongoing.
