Man shot dead along Dominican parade route in Bronx

A gunman opened fire, striking a person, along the route of the Bronx’s bustling Dominican Day Parade on Sunday night.

The victim was hit in the arm by gunfire near Grand Concourse and Eliot Place shortly before 5 p.m. as the parade continued through the concourse, police sources said.

The man checked into the BronxCare Health System hospital where he was listed in stable condition on Sunday evening.

The shooting occurred as Dominicans from across the city gathered in the Bronx to celebrate the culture of the Caribbean country on Sunday. The annual parade had been canceled the previous two years due to the pandemic.

Spectators waving flags lined the hall as colorful floats and dancers paraded down the street throughout the afternoon and Latin music filled the air for much of the day before the shots do not ring out.

When the bullets flew, people ran for their lives, according to a resident who witnessed the aftermath.

Nathalie Peña, who lives in a building adjacent to the crime scene, said she saw people running frantically and wondered, « What happened? »

Peña then learned that shots had been fired right outside her home. She said she had moved into the house a day early.

“I never experienced a shooting or anything. So it was like I was having fun and dancing, and then it was like what happened? Peña, 21, said.

Police recovered a firearm from the scene and took a suspect into custody.

Peña was a block away when the shooting happened.

The bloodshed made him fear his new neighborhood.

“I want to go back to where I used to live. I don’t want to be here anymore,” she said. « But I have no options, so I’m here. »

Earlier in the afternoon, Mayor Eric Adams led the start of the parade as it marched up the Grand Concourse from the Mount Hope section of the Bronx. The parade has been a tradition in the city – which has the largest concentration of Dominicans outside the DR – for decades.