East Harlem gunplay leaves 3 men, 1 woman wounded

A broad daylight burst of gunfire in East Harlem Wednesday pierced the calm of an otherwise routine summer afternoon and left three men and a woman wounded, including one critically, authorities said.

Two of the men, 25 and 17, were placing an order at the 20 Stars Deli on E. 132nd St. and Madison Ave. when bullets tore into the store from the sidewalk around 3:15 p.m., police said. The older man was shot in the head and the younger man in the chest, police said.

A 43-year-old man on the sidewalk was grazed in the chest, and a 24-year-old woman also outside was grazed in the arm, police sources said. All four victims were taken to Harlem Hospital. At least one was in critical condition, according to the Fire Department.

The shooting left the neighborhood shaken. “It makes me scared, there's a school a block away,” said Sky Ortiz, 22. “My daughter goes there, she's in the first grade. When somebody gets shot in the middle of the day like this, it's scary.”

Several shell casings were recovered in front of the deli, said sources, as cops were reviewing surveillance footage Wednesday night.

What sparked the gunplay was not immediately known.