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Innocent Bystander Fatally Shot Days Before Becoming Chef
By
Ben Yakas
Published May 31, 2015
Modified May 31, 2015
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By
Ben Yakas
Published May 31, 2015
Modified May 31, 2015
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Six people were shot in separate incidents in Queens, The Bronx and Brooklyn over the course of Friday night into Saturday morning. One of those victims was 23-year-old Jahhad Marshall, an innocent bystander who happened to be passing by the Queensbridge Houses in Long Island City around 2:35 a.m. when a violent argument broke out. Marshall was struck by a stray bullet in the back of the head.
He was taken to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center, where he died. An 18-year-old man was shot in the leg and a 29-year-old woman was shot in the right arm in that incident; both are in stable condition and are expected to live. No arrests have been made in the shooting.
Marshall's family told the News that he was days away from starting a new job as a chef: "He was about to start a new job in a restaurant tomorrow with his brother, who is executive chef," his father Eric Marshall said. "I taught them how to cook." He added that Marshall made mix tapes under the name "Yung Mak," and started a clothing line called Underrated Minds.
Neighbors added that the fight was over "local rivalries" within the city’s largest housing project. Marshall's uncle Stacey Calhoun told the Post that he's in favor of bringing back stop-and-frisk, Mayor Bloomberg's controversial police tactic which Mayor de Blasio has almost entirely put an end to (in favor of Bratton's Broken Windows policy).
“Somebody has to put their foot down,” Calhoun said. "A lot of people would agree with stop-and-frisk if it’s for the safety among us. They used to fight with their hands...It seems like all these kids have guns these days."
According to NYPD statistics, 123 people have been murdered in 2015 through May 24, a 15% increase (107 deaths) from the same period in 2014. De Blasio was asked about the slight rise at a press conference this weekend, and the Post was typically disappointed in his response: “We are continuing to update our strategies,” the mayor said. “We saw this about the same time last year. We had a spike that we had to deal with, but we pushed it back. We had real concerns, legitimate concerns last spring and we ended up with the best year on record in a generation in terms of lowering murder and lowering crime.”
Tagged
death
fatal shooting
jahhad marshall
long island city
stop and frisk
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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