by John Leleand
IN the hour before sunset on June 30, Calvin Chu was with his wife, Melissa, and 15-month-old daughter, Emma, at the playground inMorningside Park, awaiting the long holiday weekend. Children splashed under graceful arcs of water from the sprinklers or clambered over a hanging wooden bridge.
But as Mr. Chu watched Emma play, he noticed a teenager on the street behind her, raising what looked like a gun. Mr. Chu, who moved to the area last year, had seen drug dealers by that corner, 116th Street and Morningside Avenue, but a gun was something different. He heard three loud pops. Another man ran from the scene.
For an instant, some parents thought the pops were firecrackers. Then someone yelled, “Gun!”
Area:
Morningside Heights