NEW YORK CITY — Independence Day was marred by violence, as more than a dozen shootings occurred in the city, including three deaths and a shot cop, police said.
There were 17 people shot in 13 shooting incidents between 12:01 a.m and 11:59 p.m. on the holiday.
At 4:16 a.m. on Wednesday morning, police said Joseph Seaborough, 27, was found on the corner of East 168th Street and Grand Concourse with a gunshot wound to the head. He was transported to Bronx-Lebanon Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
"It’s just unbelievable that somebody could just take your life like that," said Seaborough's grandmother Ruth Scott, 82. "He didn’t deserve what they did."
Just before midnight, Matt Shaw, 22, was found shot in the torso in front of 122 E. 128th St. in Harlem. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Harlem Hospital, police said.
The violence spilled over into early Thursday morning, when, at 1:50 a.m, 33-year-old Robert Summers was shot in the head and chest at Jefferson Avenue and Reid Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant. He was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
"There are just bullets flying all over the place," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg at a news conference at Bellevue Hospital, where a police officer was recovering from a shooting. "We have to stop this craziness."
Officer Brian Groves was shot in the chest early Thursday by a man he was chasing through a Lower East Side building at 3:40 a.m., police said.
Cops said Groves and partner Eric Corniel were patrolling Seward Park Housing Facility at 64-66 Essex St. Groves when they opened a stairwell door and saw a man with a silver revolver.
The suspect fled down the stairs, and the two officers gave chase. Between the 19th and 18th floors, the gunman turned and fired at least one time, hitting Groves in the chest.
Groves was saved by his bulletproof vest, officials said.
"He was shot from no more than 8 feet away," Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said at a press conference. "Thank God for Kevlar. It clearly saved the officer's life."
