Overview
- John Martinez, 27, known as Suave Drilly, was shot multiple times just before 6 p.m. near Alexander Avenue and Bruckner Boulevard and was pronounced dead at Lincoln Hospital.
- The NYPD says three to four suspects approached as he left the parole office, with descriptions including men in ski masks and clothing such as all black with white sneakers, gray or black sweatshirts, and a purple sweatshirt with light blue jeans and hair in a bun.
- Police report the assailants fled east on East 132nd Street, and no arrests have been announced as the investigation continues.
- Martinez was indicted in 2022 in a multi-defendant Bronx case, imprisoned in 2023 on an attempted gang assault conviction, and paroled in January 2024 with regular check-ins required.
- Witness accounts described officers pushing back bystanders while rendering aid, and the killing has renewed discussion of drill rap’s ties to street violence as local data show shootings down this year in the 40th Precinct.