Masked Home Invaders Shoot 2 Men in Washington Heights: Police

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — Police are searching for three home invaders who shot two men in their Washington Heights building early Tuesday morning.

The trio donned masks and pushed the two men from behind as they were entering their apartment on West 188th Street near Amsterdam Avenue, police told Patch. Once inside the residence a 27-year-old victim was shot in the left arm and right leg and a 28-year-old victim was shot in the chest, police said.

Both victims were taken to Harlem Hospital and are in stable condition police said.

After the shootings the three men fled the scene without stealing any property, police said. A firearm was recovered from the scene of the crime, police told Patch.

This year there have been 10 shootings in the 34th police precinct — which covers Inwood and part of Washington Heights — according to NYPD Compstat data from Oct. 30. In those 7 shootings there had been 11 victims, according to the data. The numbers represent an uptick in shooting violence in the precinct, which had just 7 shootings at this time in 2015.

Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or 1-888-57-PISTA (74782) for Spanish. The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) and entering TIP577. All tips are confidential.

Photo: Patch