Tenants of a Bronx building are distraught over the shooting death of one of their own, a neighbor gunned down in their lobby after a dispute with a killer who remains on the loose
Neighbors of Kasiem Johnson, 26, say they can’t understand why anyone would want to target the quiet young man who was shot in the neck following a fight in the lobby of the Crotona Park East building Saturday morning.
Enos Cunningham, 77, has known the victim and his younger brother since they were kids.
“He’s extremely quiet. Very generous,” Cunningham said through tears of Johnson. “I saw him the day before. He was upset. It was very unusual.”
Johnson’s brother declined to talk when approached outside the E. 174th St. building near West Farms Road where mourners erected a makeshift memorial in Johnson’s honor.
Two black plastic crates sat on the sidewalk with lit candles inside.
Neighbor Dahlia Prayogg, 55, heard gunfire Saturday morning followed by a scream.
“I saw (EMTs) going out with him. He was on a stretcher,” Prayogg said.
“Over here was blood on the floor,” she added pointing to the lobby floor near the building’s mailboxes.
She described Johnson as quiet and helpful.
“He’s no trouble. If I am there and I have my bags, he always opens the door for me,” she said. “ He’s a nice person.”
Cops said Johnson became embroiled in a fight in the lobby around 9:40 a.m.
During the scrap, his opponent pulled a gun and opened fire, striking him in the neck, cops said.
Kasiem Johnson, 26, was fatally shot in the lobby of his Bronx apartment building on Saturday. (Facebook)
Medics rushed Johnson to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he died.
The gunman, who was wearing all black, ran out of the building and has not been caught.
Cops were in the area Saturday looking for surveillance footage that could help them identify the shooter.
Friends and family also paid tribute to Johnson on social media.
Prayogg said the neighbors will miss him.
“I feel hurt,” she said. “Right now I’m crying inside.”
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