A 35-year-old man was shot Saturday in Hell’s Kitchen after getting into an argument with a rival, officers and witnesses said — as crime continues to rise in the neighborhood.
According to the NYPD and residents, Sharief Jackson was shot twice in the chest shortly before 3 a.m. in his apartment on 49th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues.
Police found him in front of the five-story building, bleeding and conscious.
Medics rushed him to NYC Health and Hospitals/Bellevue, but he could not be saved.
His killer was still on the loose Saturday evening.
A resident told The Post she heard screaming before three gunshots rang out.
The cold-blooded murder comes as homicides are up 66.7% this year compared to 2023 in Midtown North Precinct, with five homicides recorded through Dec. 15, according to NYPD crime statistics.
The number of robberies, assaults, rapes and burglaries is also increasing, causing the local population to become uneasy.
“I’ve lived here for years,” says 67-year-old Thomas Kurilla.
“It was really fun. It became gentrified and then it’s all the way back to the 1980s.”
A resident leaving Jackson’s building — which was wrapped in crime scene tape hours after the murder — echoed those sentiments.
“It’s a scary time in Hell’s Kitchen. It’s a shame to see the direction things have gone. I hope it gets better. This street used to be better,” he said, adding that he was on holiday in Australia.
“It couldn’t be a better time.”
