Dwight Pitman, a 26-year-old Black man, was shot in the early hours of February 15, 2018, outside a public housing building in East Harlem. Just after 2 a.m., police found him in front of an apartment tower at the East River Houses development near East 105th Street and First Avenue, wounded by a gunshot to the torso. He was rushed to Harlem Hospital in critical condition, but despite emergency efforts, he died there from his injuries.
In the moments leading up to the shooting, an argument erupted outside the building. Reports said Pitman had gotten into a dispute with three men in the street, the kind of late-night confrontation that can flare fast and burn hot. As the exchange escalated, one of the men pulled a firearm and fired, striking Pitman in the chest before the group scattered and ran off into the night.
Investigators were left with a violent scene and unanswered questions. At the time of the initial reports, police had not identified any suspects publicly, and no arrests had been announced. The case was described as an active, ongoing investigation, with the shooter and the two other men who fled still unnamed in the available reporting.
