Last Friday morning November 17, a Roosevelt Island resident asked:

I live in the Octagon and in the middle of last night, I heard what sounded like several gunshots. I went to Citizen this morning and found this post:

Have you heard anyone else report anything? Very unsettling.

A Roosevelt Island Manhattan Park resident reported:

Gun shots at 30 River Road

At approximately 2:44AM on Friday morning we were awoken by what I thought was a loud banging on our wall. Then we heard nearby gunshots maybe six, fired from below our open window, near the entrance of Manhattan Park, at 30RR. Looking out the window, we saw no one, no police, no cars, nothing.

So we went back to bed only to be awoken about 15-20 minutes later to more distant gun shots. What on earth is going on here? Can you report on this incident?

Other residents heard the commotion and apparently someone called police.

Another Manhattan Park resident reported:

I’m at 30 RR, and my wife and I were awakened around 2am by the very distinct sound of gunshots (our window was open). We heard 6-8 gunshots followed by a pause and then another 6-8 gunshots.

After about 15 minutes or so, there was another series of gunshots that sounded a little more distant, though I’m not really sure. I don’t know where exactly the gunshots were, but definitely in the north side of the island around the Manhattan Park apartments or the soccer field…

I’d be really interested in an update, to see if shell casings were recovered.

Just to be clear, my wife and I both know what a handgun sounds like, and this was definitely it. I suspect that the shooter emptied two clips and then emptied a third clip later as he was walking around. We didn’t hear any yelling or commotion of any kind.

At least 3 other residents heard what they thought were gunshots at that time too.

On November 18, I asked Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Public Safety Chief Kevin Brown:

Several Roosevelt Island residents reported to me hearing gunshots early Friday morning … about 2 AM in the vicinity of 30 River Road and 888 Main Street….

…Do you have any information on this important matter of concern to Roosevelt Island residents?…

There was no response from RIOC.

I asked NYPD too. A NYPD spokesperson replied they had no information on any Roosevelt Island gunshots at the time reported.

During the November 21 RIOC Public Safety Department Community Engagement meeting, Chief Brown and NYPD 114 Precinct Commander Deputy Inspector Kenneth Gorman said they received no reports and had no knowledge of any gunshots on Roosevelt Island at that time.

Inspector Gorman added that the NYPD Shotspotter accoustic sensor technology deployed on Roosevelt Island did not detect any gunshots at that time.

Here’s the discussion.

According to the NYPD 2021 Shotspotter Impact and Use Policy:

ShotSpotter is a gunshot detection system. ShotSpotter uses acoustic sensors
to quickly detect and alert New York City Police Department (NYPD) personnel
of confirmed gunfire incidents. The system reduces gunfire incident response
times, provides valuable evidence for investigations and criminal
prosecutions, and enhances both public and officer safety.

The NYPD produced this impact and use policy because the gunshot detection system processes acoustic data, and shares acoustic and location data with NYPD personnel…

A 2021 BBC report on the Shotspotter sensor detection technology examining whether it is accurate and reliable?.

and a 2022 Bloomberg article reports on NYPD’s use of Shotspotter.

Here’s the full November 21 Roosevelt Island Public Safety Community Engagement meeting.

According to RIOC: