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‘Disgusted’ by Video of Boy’s Killing, Callers Flood Police Tip Line

8-10 minutes

People visited a memorial outside a bodega on East 183rd Street in the Bronx for Lesandro Guzman-Feliz, 15, who was stabbed to death on Wednesday after being dragged out of the store.CreditHiroko Masuike/The New York Times

Sunday marked two days since the police first asked for help finding the men shown on video last week dragging a 15-year-old boy out of a Bronx bodega and stabbing him to death in a gruesome attack that may have been a case of mistaken identity.

Since then, police investigators have been overwhelmed by a “torrent of tips” aimed at identifying Lesandro Guzman–Feliz’s attackers, the chief of detectives, Dermot F. Shea, said on Sunday.

“There’s just a tremendous outpouring and I think that people are disgusted by what they saw,” Chief Shea said hours before he announced on Twitter that the police had made arrests in the Wednesday slaying, but offered no additional details.

INTERIM UPDATE: We have made arrests regarding the murder of 15-yr-old Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz. Confirmed details to follow. This is still an active investigation. Your tips have been invaluable! Please keep them coming. 800-577-TIPS. #justiceforjunior #GangFreeBronx pic.twitter.com/pODqvYqZlX

— Chief Dermot F. Shea (@NYPDDetectives) June 24, 2018

The Police Department said in a statement that it was “vigorously investigating” Lesandro’s killing, and expected to make additional arrests.

Social media users speculated that Lesandro had been mistaken for another teenager who shared video of himself having sex with one of the suspects’ female relatives. Chief Shea, in an interview, would not discuss potential motives for the killing, but he said there was no information to indicate that Lesandro, who wanted to be a police detective, was “anything but an innocent kid.”

News of the arrests drew cheers from social media users, who praised the police and asked for stiff penalties for the suspects.

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A flier asking for information about the stabbing death of Lesandro, whose attack was caught on video.CreditHiroko Masuike/The New York Times

“This shook us to our core,” @rifkalove13 wrote in a Twitter post responding to a story about the arrests posted by Ruben Diaz Jr., the Bronx borough president. “No mother has slept peacefully since this happened.” She added, “The #NYPD did their thing and we want to thank them.”

After video of the attack began circulating on social media, there were so many calls to the Police Department’s 1-800-577-TIPS hotline that supervisors assigned extra staff members to answer the phones. Many more tips flowed in from social media, where police officials’ posts have been viewed and shared more than 100,000 times on Twitter and Instagram, according to police metrics.

The tips identified several suspects by name and included their addresses, photos, hangout locations and gang affiliation.

The response highlighted the combined power of social media and video to help the police solve crimes, especially in places where many people are afraid to be seen talking to detectives for fear of reprisals by violent street crews and gangs.

Too often after crimes occur, the police discover that it is difficult to get much help in solving them. Tips trickle instead of pour, if they come at all, and detectives find their door-to-door efforts bear little fruit because people sometimes fear being seen talking to law enforcement.

But where detectives might have encountered a closed door before, social media has given them nearly unbridled access to discreet tipsters and outraged sleuths. Lesandro’s case showed officials were just beginning to harness its potential, Chief Shea said.

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Lesandro dreamed of becoming a detective, his mother said, and participated in the Explorers program, a New York Police Department program for high school students.

“Beyond this case, I think we’re scratching the surface of what we can achieve and how we can interact,” he said. “You’re never going to, nor do I want to, replace the face-to-face. But in terms of getting tips, this is going to be a game-changer.”

As his attackers fled in a light-colored sedan, Lesandro, who was known as “Junior,” ran in the direction of St. Barnabas Hospital a block away but collapsed on the pavement as blood ran from his neck. Soon, video of the incident began circulating on social media under the hashtag #JusticeforJunior, and the police appealed for help identifying six men believed to be Lesandro’s attackers.

Several social media users blamed the killing on the Trinitarios, a violent Dominican gang based in New York. Chief Shea said that was a “strong possibility.”

The Trinitarios have been linked to several shootings and stabbings in recent weeks, including a stabbing on Monday in Bronx River Park that left a 14-year-old boy in critical condition, Chief Shea said.

There is no video of the earlier stabbing, and it remains unsolved, according to the police.

Video has proved pivotal in helping the police solve a number of cases. But as in the police chokehold death of an unarmed Staten Island man named Eric Garner in 2014, it has also raised questions about their practices.

Tips from the public helped the police to solve a home invasion and attempted sexual assault that occurred on Thursday in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, Chief Shea said. The suspect, Darryl Williams, 25, was arrested on Saturday on charges including attempted rape and strangulation after officials posted images of him on social media, according to the police.

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Leandra Feliz, mother of Lesandro Guzman-Feliz, held a photo of Lesandro that was taken in November, at her apartment near the bodega in the Bronx.CreditHiroko Masuike/The New York Times

The police in New York have long used social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to track criminal activity and gangs. But Chief Shea said Lesandro’s case highlighted for officials the potential reward of engaging with communities on social media beyond collecting tips.

“I think the world is going to get very small for some of these gangs in the near future,” he said, “and I think social media is going to be a big part of it.”

Lesandro lived in a two-bedroom apartment in the Belmont neighborhood with his mother, Leandra Feliz, 48, and sister, Genesis, 17. In the living room on Sunday, his mother showed photos of him celebrating his 15th birthday and graduating from kindergarten. In one widely circulated image, he is wearing a jacket for the police Explorers, a program he participated in that caters to youth who are interested in law enforcement.

“His dream was to be a detective,” Ms. Feliz said. “Since he was 5 years old, he used to love to play with the police toy cars and always said he wanted to be a detective.”

Ms. Feliz said she was pleased that people were trying to help the police solve her son’s killing.

The last time she saw him alive, he had been playing a game of Fortnite on his PlayStation before telling her that he was going downstairs to lend $5 to a friend. When he took too long to come back, she called and told him, “Mijo”— Spanish for “my son” — “you’re taking too long. Come back.”

He never did.

“I feel destroyed,” she said. “They took away my life.”

A block away from the family apartment, near the Cruz and Chiky bodega on the corner of East 183rd Street and Bathgate Avenue where Lesandro was mortally wounded, hundreds of candles lined the ground, heating an already warm afternoon. Dozens of neighbors showed up to pay their respects, light candles and console each other. Mourners wrote messages on several pieces of cardboard hung on the store’s brick wall.

“A beautiful soul is never forgotten,” read one message. Another, written in Spanish, translated to: “How could they take away your smile, your happiness? You were a respectful, caring boy. We’ll miss you forever.”

Follow Ashley Southall and Luis Ferré-Sadurní on Twitter: @AshleyAtTimes and @luisferre

A version of this article appears in print on

June 24, 2018

, on Page A18 of the New York edition with the headline: Arrests and ‘Torrent of Tips’ After Killing of Boy

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(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4009578&forum_id=2#36303941)

their faces were clear as day on the surveillance video. sucks they are going away for decades for probably what they meant to just be a non-fatal stabbing and not even the right target to boot.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4009578&forum_id=2#36303972)

just because david simon says niggers have a "code" to leave "civilians" alone doesnt make it true. if that were true it would be safe for dorks like you to live in the hood; it's not.

why dont you quit posting and flash your rolex and iphone and biglaw laptop bag around in the hood, you dissembling septic queer? (nb, you assiduously avoid the hood or even the wrong subway line because you know this, so why would you post the opposite?)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4009578&forum_id=2#36304216)

Nice to see that the neighborhood stood up to this violence and cooperated with police.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4009578&forum_id=2#36303977)

“stop snitching” is really about not selling out one’s co-defendants (often lifelong friends) like some snake to save one’s own ass.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4009578&forum_id=2#36304068)

he gets back inside the store as they scatter, and like 10 seconds later he came back out of the store bleeding and looking very woozy. he makes some hand signal (maybe a gang sign?) in the direction of across the street, then stumbles in that direction off camera

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4009578&forum_id=2#36304228)

he wasn’t gushing blood, so likely cause of death was damage to organs internally vs some severed artery that bled him out

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4009578&forum_id=2#36304249)

NO WALLS

SANCTUARY FOR ALL

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4009578&forum_id=2#36304040)

Wait, why are we prosecuting these youths? This is a just a cultural difference, and it's pretty disgusting that in 2018 the American criminal justice system is still being (mis)used to impose so-called "American" standards of justice on young black and brown bodies. Really?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4009578&forum_id=2#36304137)

https://nypost.com/2018/06/23/gang-leader-sorry-after-innocent-teen-is-butchered-in-street/

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4009578&forum_id=2#36304281)