In the late afternoon of a Thursday in New York City, a burst of gunfire shattered the daylight on the Upper West Side, leaving a 33-year-old man, Rashaun Hopkins, with fatal injuries. The shooting occurred just before 5 p.m. on April 9, 2026, in front of an apartment building at 53 West 104th Street, situated between Columbus and Manhattan avenues.
Hopkins, who was a resident of the nearby NYCHA Frederick Douglass Houses, was struck multiple times in the chest only a few blocks from his own home on Amsterdam Avenue.
Responding officers from the 24th Precinct discovered Hopkins gravely wounded at the scene. They quickly transported him to Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital, but his injuries proved too severe, and he was pronounced dead. The brazen afternoon shooting prompted an immediate and intensive investigation as detectives began to piece together the events that led to the violence.
The New York Police Department is actively searching for the person responsible for Hopkins' death. Eyewitnesses reported that a suspect, described as a male with a dark complexion dressed entirely in black, fled the scene on a moped, heading westbound on West 104th Street. As of now, authorities have not made any arrests in connection with the shooting, and the investigation remains ongoing as they continue to search for a motive and bring the perpetrator to justice.
