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New York City Had Its First Weekend Without A Shooting In 25 Years

A view of New York City from the Empire State Building on Tuesday. The city just had its first weekend without a single shooting in at least 25 years.
Theo Wargo
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Getty Images
A view of New York City from the Empire State Building on Tuesday. The city just had its first weekend without a single shooting in at least 25 years.

It was a no-news-is-good-news kind of milestone: For the first time in at least 25 years, New York City just had a weekend with no shootings.

"A city of 8.6 million people — not a single shooting for three days," Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Monday, according to CNN. "Let's thank the NYPD for what they've achieved."

In the city's five boroughs, no shootings were reported from Friday to Sunday.

The New York Police Department's current system for tracking shootings goes back only to 1993, so it's possible that it was the first time in even longer, the department told CNN.

"My thanks to every member of the #NYPD for working hard to protect this city and to every member of the public who has helped us make this city so safe," tweeted Chief of Patrol Rodney Harrison.

The number of shootings in the city in September was down 11.4 percent from the same month last year, but the number of murders and rapes were both higher compared with 2017.

The streak was broken on Monday afternoon, when a 27-year old man in the Bronx was shot in the ankle, the New York Daily News reported.

NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan told the newspaper that the department's focus on preventing retaliatory violence has been effective.

"We moved personnel around to try to prevent retaliation and it works," he said. "One [shooting] can turn into five if we're not on top of it."

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Laurel Wamsley is a reporter for NPR's News Desk. She reports breaking news for NPR's digital coverage, newscasts, and news magazines, as well as occasional features. She was also the lead reporter for NPR's coverage of the 2019 Women's World Cup in France.
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