‘This is a tragedy’: Forty-nine people shot over 72 hours in New York City

Nearly 50 people were shot over a 72-hour span in New York City this weekend.

Between Thursday and Saturday, 49 people were shot in the largest city in the United States, as the uptick in gun violence continues this summer, according to the Gothamist.

The number of those shot over the three days is five times more than the eight who were shot during the same days last year. At least six people were killed by gunshot wounds over the 72 hours, compared to three homicides that took place during the same time last year.

There have been 1,087 shooting victims so far this year in 888 different incidents throughout the city. Last year at this time, there had been 577 shooting victims in 488 incidents in New York City, according to the Gothamist.

Among those who died was an off-duty corrections officer who worked at Rikers Island. John Jeff, 28, had just left a party in Queens at 3 a.m. on Saturday morning when he was shot in the head and chest.

“Early this morning, the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association was notified that New York City Correction Officer John Jeff, assigned to the Anna M. Kross Center on Rikers Island, was found dead in South Jamaica Queens. He sustained multiple gunshot wounds. He was 28 years old and was on the job for just over two years with his whole life and career ahead of him. He was well-liked and highly regarded by his fellow officers,” Correction Officers Benevolent Association President Benny Boscio Jr. said in a statement.

Neighbors reported hearing multiple gunshots outside their homes, and sources told ABC 7 the killing appeared to be planned.

“I heard nine shots,” resident Raymond Leslie said. “You really don’t want to come out on these streets at night because it’s getting increasingly dangerous.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio denounced the shooting tweeting, “This is a tragedy.”

“Chirlane and I are keeping this young man’s family, loved ones and brothers and sisters in @CorrectionNYC in our hearts today. An investigation into this cowardly attack is ongoing. If you have any information please contact the NYPD,” the mayor tweeted.

The start of this month marked more shootings in New York City so far this year than in all of 2019.

Protests, riots, and vandalism sparked by the death of George Floyd have increased the anti-police sentiment in the city at a time when de Blasio has pledged to strip $1 billion from the city’s police budget and disbanded the plainclothes anti-crime unit. Hundreds of police officers have filed their retirement papers in recent weeks as tensions between the force and the public become more strained by the increase in crime.

Thousands of New Yorkers have been fleeing the city in recent weeks, citing the uptick in violence as well as coronavirus restrictions.

“We reached our New York expiration date,” one New York City mother recently told the New York Post. “Things weren’t heading in the right direction. What we’re seeing now isn’t at all surprising.”

As people pack their bags for New Jersey, the Hamptons, and other local areas, Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo pleaded that they return to the city, even offering to cook them dinner.

“I literally talk to people all day long who are now in their Hamptons house who also lived here, or in their Hudson Valley house or in their Connecticut weekend house, and I say, ‘You got to come back, when are you coming back?’” Cuomo said earlier this month. “‘We’ll go to dinner, I’ll buy you a drink, come over, I’ll cook.’”