Police said they were called to 327 Second Street around 5:30 this morning for a shooting. They found a man inside the basement apartment with a gunshot wound to his upper body. He later died at Albany Med. His death makes this the second homicide in Albany this month alone.
Earlier this month 32-year-old Harry Ferrell of Albany was shot and killed after a party at his Western Avenue home. Now, police say a 27-year-old Zechariah Banks of Troy is dead, also shot at a house party. A neighbor off-camera told us he was there, but left shortly before shots were fired. He never expected it to turn violent. Another neighbor said she's mad that the violence continues. Of all the neighbors we spoke with, no one wanted to go on camera. Former gun task force member Dominick Calsolaro said that many people are scared.
"I walk the streets and people tell me they want to move out of the city because they're scared, that's all the stats you need," he said.
This past week, in his ward alone, a pizza delivery man was held up by gun point, and a woman was shot at by a passing car. Right now, the city is waiting on a half million dollar state grant aimed at stopping violence before it starts. Operation SNUG, one of the task force's recommendations, would put mediators on the streets. Another recommendation was to create a gun violence implementation team. Calsolaro said that still hasn't been done.
"You can't just bring in a police force and think that's going to end crime, it takes a community, a neighborhood. They say it takes a village to raise a child, it's going to take a neighborhood to stem this gun violence," he said.
Calsolaro's also concerned about the number of youth involved in this type of crime.
The investigation into Bank's death continues tonight. Police have not identified a suspect yet, and still don't have a motive.
