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Man Dies After Being Shot Outside Queensbridge Houses, NYPD Says

By Jeanmarie Evelly | May 16, 2017 1:54pm | Updated on May 17, 2017 8:38am
 The Queensbridge Houses in Long Island City.
The Queensbridge Houses in Long Island City.
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DNAinfo/Jeanmarie Evelly

LONG ISLAND CITY — A man died Tuesday after he was shot in the chest outside a building at the Queensbridge Houses, according to the NYPD — the second shooting this year at the development.

Javares Batts, 38, of Woodside, was shot outside the NYCHA building at 41-10 Vernon Blvd., at the intersection of 10th Street and 41st Road, shortly before 5 p.m. Monday, police said. He was taken to New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in critical condition with gunshot wounds to the chest and torso.

He died from his injuries Tuesday morning, according to police.

The NYPD did not immediately have details on the circumstances that led to the shooting or a description of the suspect. There had been no arrests as of Tuesday, police said.

The incident marks the second shooting this year at the Queensbridge Houses, according to the most recent NYPD crime statistics available, for the period ending May 7. A man was shot in the groin March 18, the Queens Courier reported at the time.

The development — which is the largest public housing complex in the country — had previously seen a lull in violence. In January, officials marked what they said was the first full year there without a shooting there in more than a decade.

At a press conference earlier this year, Mayor Bill de Blasio lauded the Queensbridge Houses as a successful example of the how the city's anti-violence initiatives are working.

Overall crime at at the complex is still down so far in 2017, statistics show. For the year-to-date period ending May 7, major crimes at Queensbridge were down 27 percent compared to the same time in 2016, according to NYPD numbers.