Joe Biden is flying to New York to combat gun crime - what's going on and why is he now involved?

By ITV News Multimedia Producer Narbeh Minassian

As gun crime takes a worrying turn in New York City, US President Joe Biden has scheduled a visit to talk strategy with new mayor Eric Adams.

A turbulent start to the year has seen four police officers shot in as many days, two of whom died.

Serious crime in the city has increased significantly compared to the start of the last year, despite a steady decrease over the past two decades.

Mayor Adams said he hoped he can work collaboratively with President Biden to “end the scourge of gun violence."

Meanwhile, shoplifters appear to be freely walking out of well-known drug store Rite Aid with, at times, bags of goods.

So what is going on in New York and why does the White House feel compelled to get directly involved?

What happened to the police officers?

Officers were called to an apartment in Harlem, a neighbourhood in Upper Manhattan, by a woman who said she needed help with her adult son last Friday.

Authorities said the man, Lashawn J McNeil, 47, opened a bedroom door and shot the officers as they walked down a narrow hall. A third officer shot McNeil as he tried to flee and he died on Monday.

But officer Jason Rivera, 22, died on the night of the shooting.

Mr Rivera came from an immigrant family and grew up in a community with strained police relations, in Manhattan’s Inwood neighbourhood, but joined the force to make a difference in the “chaotic city", he once wrote.

“I know that something as small as helping a tourist with directions, or helping a couple resolve an issue, will put a smile on someone’s face,” Mr Rivera wrote to his commanding officer in 2020 when he was a probationary police officer.

His partner, Wilbert Mora, 27, was taken off life support on Tuesday, four days after the shooting.

Police audio captured some of the chaotic scene, including an officer screaming for assistance and another officer informing the dispatcher that two officers had been shot.

One officer asks for “three buses”, or ambulances, to the scene and for police to block off traffic on the route to nearby Harlem Hospital.

Mayor Adams was at the hospital where the officers were taken after the shooting, the third time in four days that officers have faced gunfire on the job.

An officer was wounded in the leg last Tuesday night in the Bronx during a struggle with a teenager who also shot himself. Two days later, a narcotics detective was shot in the leg on Staten Island.

The last New York Police Department (NYPD) officer fatally shot in the line of duty, Brian Mulkeen, was hit by friendly fire while struggling with an armed man after chasing and shooting at him in the Bronx in September 2019.

What’s going on at Rite Aid?

Amid the city and state’s talks to combat gun crime, a spate of shoplifting apparently targeting – but not limited to – a specific Rite Aid outlet has caused concern for businesses and officials.

The Rite Aid at the corner of 8th Avenue and 50th Street in Hell’s Kitchen has, reportedly, been a key target for shoplifters who casually walk out with their loot.

Actor and comedian Michael Rapaport shared a video he filmed on Tuesday showing a hooded man walk out of the store, going by a security guard with what appears to be bags of items.

His footage has been viewed more than a million times since.

According to the New York Daily Post, store sources claim more than $200,000 (£150,000) worth of goods has been stolen in the past two months.

The paper even claims one of their reporters followed one thief at the store last week and watched him fill a bag with cans of beer and leave the shop.

“Sometimes I feel bad for these guys in charge, you feel bad for the security guys,” the thief is quoted as telling the paper.

“I know I do wrong,” he said. “If they tell me put it back, I put it back.”

In July last year, a Rite Aid shop assistant was shot dead after confronting a shoplifter, which may partly explain why staff are hesitant to crack down on the thefts.

The Rite Aid is set to close on February 8. US media reports other businesses in the area fear they could be next.

How bad is crime in New York?

In the four weeks since New York City mayor Eric Adams took office on January 1, a 19-year-old cashier was shot to death as she worked a late-night shift at a Burger King, a woman was pushed to her death in a subway station, and a baby was critically injured when she was hit by a stray bullet as she sat in a parked car with her mother.

With the Harlem shooting last Friday night, four police officers had been shot in as many days.

Of the seven major crimes listed by the NYPD – which includes murder, robbery, burglary and rape – statistics show 7,230 incidents in the city so far this year up to January 23.

This represents a rise of almost 39% when compared to the same period in 2021, when there were 5,211. Robbery is up 33%, with 944 incidents.

Officials estimate New York, state-wide, will see more than 800 murders in 2022, according to New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services Commissioner Rossana Rosado.

That would mark the second year in a row with more than 800 murders, according to Ms Rosado, who spoke to lawmakers at a budget hearing on Tuesday. She said the state hasn't seen such levels since 2008.

Around three-quarters of homicides nationwide involve firearms, Ms Rosado added.

What is being done about it?

The White House said Mr Biden will discuss his administration's “comprehensive strategy” to combat gun crime, including increased funding for cities and states to hire more police officers and pay for community violence prevention and intervention programs.

The strategy also includes beefing up federal law enforcement efforts against gun traffickers, the White House said.

On Wednesday, a new interstate task force dedicated to improving the tracing of illegal guns met for the first time.

Mayor Adams joined the briefing virtually, adding his administration is committed to stemming gun violence at the root.

“We have normalised the carrying of guns in our city, in our state, and in many cases in our country. We have no longer made it taboo to do so," he said.

“The individual who was responsible for taking the lives of Officers Rivera and Moya had an automatic modified weapon that carried 40 rounds of ammunition.

“And an additional AR-15 assault rifle under his mattress. This is what we are up against."

New York Governor Kathy Hochul said “we are seeing a dramatic increase in the number of guns” finding their ways through state borders and into the hands of criminals.

Her budget proposal includes more funding for gun crime tracing, as well as for the hiring of more social media analysts.

She said officials from nine states on the task force will figure out how to quickly collect data on the flow of guns.