Husband is left paralyzed after being hit by stray bullet while walking with wife in Brooklyn

An innocent bystander who was shot in broad daylight in Brooklyn on Wednesday will likely never walk again after a bullet struck his spine while he walked with his wife to buy toothpaste from a nearby store.

The tragic shooting is one of several incidents of gun violence in New York City, where homicides surged by 29 per cent to 244 from January  1 to August 2 from the same period last year. 

The five boroughs have also seen an 84.6 per cent rise in shooting victims to 1,017 during those dates compared with the same period in 2019, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Sam Metcalfe, 33, survived the shooting while an 18-year-old man, Malcolm Amede, died near the intersection of Ocean and Woodruff avenues in Flatbush – just south of Prospect Park.

Amede, a suspected gang member, was believed to be the shooter’s intended target.

A GoFundMe account started to help Metcalfe and his wife, Sabrina, described how the tragic events unfolded.

‘On Wednesday, August 19, 2020, Sabrina and her husband Sam left their Brooklyn apartment to go to the store and get some toothpaste,’ the organizer of the crowdfunding effort, Krysta Zagorski, wrote.

‘She told him he didn’t need to come but he wanted to hold the umbrella for her because it was raining and the umbrella was broken.

‘While crossing an intersection less than five minutes from their building, shots rang out and Sam was hit.

‘The intended victim (not Sam) was also shot multiple times and died as a result.’

Zagorski continued: ‘Almost immediately, Sam couldn’t feel his legs. We now know that the bullet hit his kidney and stopped when it hit his spine.

‘They removed his kidney but his condition is too fragile to attempt to remove the bullet just yet.

‘Doctors are still trying to stop the bleeding and Sam will likely never walk again.’

Five people have been shot near this intersection in the last week, according to Zagorsky. Three of those who have been shot were killed.

‘Sam and Sabrina have a long road ahead of them,’ she writes.

‘Medical expenses will come later but, right now, I need help supporting them in any way possible.

‘Neither are working as Sam fights for his life and she keeps vigil over him.

‘His journey to recovery will be long and, during that time, I don’t want either of them to have to worry about anything else.’

The GoFundMe campaign has exceeded its goal of $40,000. As of early Saturday morning, it has raised $42,150.

‘THANK YOU,’ Zagorsky wrote.

‘I cannot tell you how much your support means. It’s a testament to how loved Sam and Sabrina are and how truly incredible people can be.’

Amede was fatally shot in the chest and arms, according to the New York Post. Law enforcement sources believe he is a member of the Crips and that the shooting was related to gang warfare.

Surveillance footage released from the scene on Friday shows an unidentified gunman aiming a gun from the driver’s seat of a BMW SUV just before 3:30pm.

Video from the scene shows the aftermath of the shooting. Bystanders are seen tending to Metcalfe and assuring him he was going to be OK.

Cops found a gun at the scene that may have been dropped by one of the victims.  

‘This neighborhood is becoming a shooting gallery. Why won’t it just stop?’ one resident asked AM New York.

It comes as the city endures a summer of soaring violent crime. Heat waves, high unemployment, and the grinding misery of social distancing restrictions have all contributed to an atmosphere in which tempers spin out of control, and verbal disputes between strangers often turn violent. 

As well, gang violence and turf wars have contributed to the shootings, police say. 

Last month, shooting incidents across the city were up 177 percent compared to last year. 

Murders were up 59 percent for the month, burglaries rose 31 percent, and auto thefts increased 53 percent. 

At least three people died and 12 were wounded overnight Thursday and into early Friday morning after a night of shooting mayhem across New York City, where violent crime continues to surge out of control.

There were at least 11 separate shooting incidents spanning Brooklyn and the Bronx, where terrified residents have seen soaring violence in recent months.

Thursday’s first fatality came around 10pm, when a 23-year-old man was shot in the head and shoulder outside of a McDonald’s in Downtown Brooklyn, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police recovered a gun at the scene, which they believe was dropped by the victim. 

The shooter, described as a black male in his 20s standing five-foot-ten and wearing a white bucket hat and black shirt, fled north on Flatbush Avenue, and remains at large.

The two other fatal shootings took place in the East Tremont neighborhood of the Bronx, just a few hours apart.

At around 2am, a gunman opened fire in an apparent drive-by shooting on East 179th Street, striking three victims and killing one of them.

The deceased victim, a 60-year-old man, was shot in the torso and pronounced dead at St. Barnabas Hospital. Two others, ages 36 and 54, are hospitalized in stable condition.

Then just two hours later, around 4.20am, a 44-year-old man was fatally shot in the back of the head on Park Avenue in the Bronx. 

As well, shortly before noon on Friday, an innocent bystander was shot and wounded in the ankle while she was sitting inside a Brooklyn nail salon.

The 68-year-old woman was in a nail salon on Pitkin Avenue when shots rang out. She was taken to Brookdale University Hospital.

The suspects, described as two men wearing all black and face masks, fled the scene and are still at large.

The other non-fatal shootings across the city on Thursday night and Friday morning included:

Brooklyn, 10.49pm: Confirmed shots fired at 572 Warren Street.

Brooklyn, 12.33am: Confirmed shots fired at 2525 Linden Boulevard. 

Brooklyn, 12.56am: One shot. Female victim self-transported to Brooklyn Hospital Medical Center and arrived with a gunshot wound.

Brooklyn, 1.15am: Two shot. A 52-year-old man was shot in the arm, and a 23-year-old woman was shot in the shoulder outside 397 East 49th street in East Flatbush. Suspects fled in SUV.

Bronx, 1.55am: Two shot. A 28-year-old man was shot in the chest and arm, and a 22-year-old woman was shot in the knee and back outside 1210 Gilbert Place. Police say the victims were uncooperative. 

Bronx, 2.28am: Confirmed shots fired at 1210 Gilbert Place. 

Brooklyn, 3.15am: One shot. A 27-year-old man was shot in front of 177 Sands Street. He was taken to Methodist Hospital in critical condition. 

Brooklyn, 3.30am: One shot. A 36-year-old man was shot in the right thigh outside 402 Nostrand Avenue in Bedford Stuyvesant. He was hospitalized in stable condition and police describe him as highly uncooperative.   

Facing pressure from activists, as well as a mounting budget crisis, Mayor Bill de Blasio cut $1 billion from the NYPD’s $6billion annual budget. 

The mayor has also boasted of the large number of inmates released from Rikers Island due to the pandemic, proudly declaring that city jails had the lowest inmate population since World War II. 

Police unions have blamed bail reform, police budget cuts, and anti-cop sentiment for the rise in violent crime. 

Last week, the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, the city’s largest police union, took the unprecedented step of endorsing President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign.

Governor Andrew Cuomo has blamed police themselves for the rising crime, saying they have done ‘very little’ to come up with reform plans. 

He also threatened to pull funding from up to 500 departments across the state if they do not have reform plans in place by April 2021. 

De Blasio said on Monday that violent crime is ‘painful’ and ‘horrible’ and said that the NYPD is ‘engaging the community more deeply’ to try to stem the tide.