Weekend Violence Grips NYC With 29 People Shot: Police, Report

NEW YORK CITY — A weekend wave of shooting and stabbings left more than 30 New Yorkers injured and at least one dead, according to police and a report.

Police found Bjana James, 37, dead in a Bronx apartment with her throat slashed, NYPD officials said. The grisly discovery early Saturday kicked off a bloody weekend across the city.

Twenty-nine people were shot over the weekend, the New York Daily News first reported. And six people, including James, were stabbed, the Daily News reported.

The carnage unfolded during the first weekend that revamped NYPD anti-crime units hit the streets in 25 police precincts. The units are a major plank in Mayor Eric Adams' strategy to combat surging violent crime, but have been controversial because of their aggressive tactics and discriminatory policing undertaken by their plainclothes predecessors.

NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell tried to quell concerns last week by stressing they won't repeat past mistakes, and keep focused on violent offenders.

"They are not in plainclothes, the uniform clearly states on the back 'NYPD Police,'" she said. "They are there for the safety of the community, and to get the violent offenders off the streets."

The violent weekend indicates that the anti-crime units have their work cut out for them.

NYPD officers arrested a suspect in James' death in the Bronx. Officials sought murder charges against Nashan Walsh, a 35-year-old man who lived in the same East 147th Street apartment as James, authorities said.

Read the New York Daily News report here.