Bronx News Roundup, Jan. 24

An NYPD officer accidentally shot the elderly father of a suspected drug dealer during a raid on his home in Soundview early Saturday morning. The injured man, 76-year-old Jose Colon, was shot in the stomach after Detrective Andrew McCormack mistakenly fired his gun; he's in stable condition and expected to survive. His son, Alberto Colon, is in police custody for drug possession.

The Times takes a look at the family of McCormack, the officer in the incident, whose police officer father was killed in the line of duty during a standoff with a mentally disturbed man in Pelham Bay back in 1983.

A 16-year-old Bronx girl who was shot in the head last year during a gang shootout on her way to school says she feels a connection to Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who is recovering from a similar injury. Today, Mayor Bloomberg held a press conference at City Hall with dozens of gun violence victims to push for background checks for gun purchases.

The Arizona shooting has also sparked a local response, as Borough President Diaz and Bronx residents who've witnessed gun violence firsthand say that weapon laws need to be stricter.

A man who is already serving a prison sentence for an unrelated crime has been charged with the 1993 slaying of a young Bronx mother. The victim's 4-year-old daughter had identified the man, DeJohn Hoffman, as her mother's killer at the time of her disappearance.

Recognize these burglars? Police released this video that captured two bandits during a robbery of a Hunts Point apartment building, in hopes of catching the suspects. 

A group of pro-choice supporters rallied outside a women's health clinic in Hunts Point on Saturday, the anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade case, which legalized a woman's right to choose in 1973. The participants say they want to make sure abortion remains legal.

The MTA plans to shell out $455 million as part of a "renewal" plan to renovate 29 subway stations in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens, including Zerega and Castle Hill Aves. on the No. 6 line.

More on the Theatre Arts Production Company School, where principal Lynn Passarella is under fire for supposedly letting students coast through with A's in order for the school to score high marks on the DOE's progress report reviews.

A woman accused of dressing like a nurse and kidnapping an infant from a Harlem hospital in 1983 is now in police custody. The child, Carlina White, now 23, was reunited with her biological parents in the Bronx last week.

Assemblyman Peter Rivera, and the nonprofit he funded for years whose executive director is being investigated on corruption charges, both owe their landlord thousands of dollars in rent for former office space at 7 Hugh Grant Circle. Rivera and the group also owe thousands in state and federal taxes. More background here.

According to weather.com, it's a biting 14 degrees in the Boogie Down right now. Here are some tips on staying warm.

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Bronx News Roundup, Jan. 20

Big Brothers and Big Sisters, the organization that matches adult mentors with children and teens, is looking for volunteers in the Bronx. The group received only 27 Bronx mentors last year.

A Bronx woman has been reunited with her daughter, who was kidnapped over two decades ago.

Councilman Oliver Koppell and Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., continue their fight for passage of a Living Wage bill, which stemmed from last year's battle over plans for the Kingbridge Armory. The two pols attended a rally in Harlem last week in support of the legislation, which Mayor Bloomberg and the business community have opposed. 

A 16-year-old boy from the Bronx wowed judges on American Idol this week. Travis Orlando "took viewers on a tour of his rough Bronx neighborhood near the Grand Concourse thoroughfare," according to MTV.com.

Rayvon Guice, 21, of the Bronx, has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for shooting two women in last year's chaotic "wilding" in Times Square on Easter Sunday.

A student from Bronx High School of Science is a semifinalist in the prestigious Intel Science Talent Search for his genetic research project.

The family of Betty Williams, the murdered Bronx woman whose body was discovered inside a suitcase on the Upper East Side last month, are trying to reunite with her 3-year-old son. The boy was placed in foster care after his mother struggled with addiction problems.

A couple was killed early yesterday morning in a car accident on the Grand Concourse near East 165th Street.

Pedro Espada's memoir, which never materialized, was meant to be in part a political attack against then-Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, according to the Post. Investigators have been looking into the proposed autobiography to find out if Espada used money from his Soundview Health Clinics to pay for the ghostwriter he'd hired.

Students at Theatre Arts Production Company High School, on Webster Avenue, say it's easy to get straight A's at the school, which is one of the higher performing in the city. The Department of Education is looking into whether or not grades at the school have been fudged. The Times has more here.

New York Democrats, including Sen. Jeff Klein, are laying off staff this year due to budget constraints. The party had racked up millions in debt during their two years in power.