The Bronx has been hot this summer – and it’s not just the weather.
The notorious 47th Precinct has seen a 50% surge in shootings so far this year, according to NYPD statistics — just as Mayor Eric Adams trumpeted a dramatic dip in gunplay across the five boroughs.
One of the most recent victims was 17-year-old Anthonaya Campbell, an innocent bystander who was blasted in the head by a stray slug Saturday night during a basketball tournament in Baychester — a violent gunfight that also left a 32-year-old man dead and two others wounded.
“A day for celebration became a day of my worst nightmare,” her mom, Jennifer Talbot, told The Post on Sunday.
Talbot spent the day at her graduation ceremony, earning her PhD from Heart Bible International University in Connecticut — and her daughter, who wasn’t in attendance, called her “seven times throughout the day just to see how the ceremony was going.
“She felt bad because she didn’t get to come, and I kept telling her, ‘You should be here,’ ” Talbot said.
The mom’s big day was then shattered when she got the heartbreaking news that her baby girl — who has family in the Baychester area — was shot and rushed to Jacobi Hospital.
“When I get there to the hospital, I see my daughter on a hospital bed with a [tracheostomy tube], half her head shaved off, a bullet lodged in her eye with a patch, and her head swollen twice the size,” the mom said. “And they were telling me that I may be having to adjust myself to say goodbyes because she may not be OK.”
There have been 21 shootings in the precinct, which encompasses areas including Baychester, Williamsbridge and Woodlawn, through Aug. 17, the latest NYPD data available, compared to 14 for the same period last year. Murders are up 100% year to date — from four to eight.
Saturday night’s melee isn’t even included in those statistics.
Meanwhile, shootings and murders are both down nearly 20% citywide year to date, which Hizzoner touted at a July press conference.
Adams said Sunday that the recent violence doesn’t warrant a curfew in the most troublesome parts of The Bronx but that the NYPD will focus on beefing up police in “critical” areas.
“We’ve driven down crime citywide,” he told The Post. “In the Bronx, we’re dealing with gangs and young people. The DA has been talking about giving them alternatives and programs while we step up enforcement.
“What we’re looking at is what has proven to be successful: Deploying police personnel to hot spots, joining with our quality-of-life teams and focusing on these squads. That’s what has worked this year.”
The most recent bout of bloodshed in The Bronx happened around 7:30 p.m. at a basketball tournament in Haffen Park and also left two others, a 29-year-old woman and 42-year-old man, with gunshot wounds.
Sources said ShotSpotter caught 48 blasts in total.
Four people — ages 16, 17, 20 and 25 — were arrested. All were nabbed with firearms, sources said. Charges are pending.
“We need additional cops in The Bronx,” Bronx City Councilman Oswald Feliz told The Post. “The shootings we’re seeing are unacceptable. The police presence could help deter some of the shootings we’ve seen.
“The shootings are shocking. We’re talking about 13-and-14-year-olds getting shot,” the councilman added.
Other crimes in The Bronx are bucking a trending citywide dip, too.
All of the NYPD patrol boroughs in the city have seen their total major-crime number drop — except in The Bronx, where the 47th Precinct alone has seen a jump of 12.2% over the same period last year, edging out only the 45th Precinct, where major crimes jumped by 11.46%, the data show.
Major crimes encompass murder, rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny and car theft.
Queens Patrol Borough North has meanwhile seen major crimes plummet by nearly 15% over last year, while Manhattan North and Queens South have seen crime dip by 6.7% and 5.3%, respectively.
The Bronx numbers will only increase after the Saturday night shooting that sources said was believed to be gang-related.
Additional reporting by Carl Campanile and Dorian Geiger
