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Nate Schweber and
Two men were fatally shot on Monday in an elevator at a public housing building in the Bronx, and the police said they were questioning a person of interest.
The victims, who were identified as Darryl Page, 26, and Tykquan Fennell, 23, were each shot once in the head shortly before 11 a.m. at a building in the Morrisania Air Rights complex, on Park Avenue at 159th Street, the police said. When officers arrived, the men were unresponsive and were taken to Lincoln Medical Center, where they were pronounced dead.
The person of interest, who was not identified, had not been arrested or charged as of Monday evening, the police said.
The police said that they had not confirmed a motive in the deaths, but that they were investigating whether it was a retaliatory shooting.
Neighbors said the shootings appeared to be retaliation after the two victims sat on a car’s bumper late on Sunday while it was parked on the street. Four residents of the building who knew the victims described a similar situation in which the car owner took the men’s behavior as a sign of disrespect. The residents declined to give their names because of fears of retaliation.
At a news conference on Monday about marijuana arrest policies, Robert K. Boyce, the chief of detectives, said that investigators quickly took into custody the person they believe committed the crime. They also recovered a gun at the scene.
Chief Boyce said that the motive was not yet known and that it was too early to speculate on what led to the shootings.
Mr. Fennell lived in the building where he was killed, the police said. Mr. Page lived about two miles away. The police said they were found shot in the elevator, on a lower floor of the building.
On Monday, the family of Mr. Fennell gathered in the driveway of the fire station across the street. His mother said she was grieving.
“After what happened, we’re just trying to keep it together,” said another woman standing with her, adding that it was Mr. Fennell’s mother’s birthday.
Neighbors said the buildings were known as the “Vietnam Projects” because of the violence there.
A man who lived there said he was shocked over Monday’s shootings.
“Over a car, over sitting on a car?” he said. “The mother lost her son on her birthday. This is no way to live.”
Al Baker contributed reporting.
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