Bloody Weekend: 24 Shot in 24 Hours Prompting Mayor Bloomberg to Call For Tougher Gun Laws

By Reuven Blau, Edgar Sandoval, Barry Paddock and Bill Hutchinson, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Twenty-four New Yorkers were hit by gunfire, one fatally, over 24 hours of violence this weekend, prompting Mayor Bloomberg to call the bloody stretch "unconscionable" and demand action from Washington.

The eruption of shootings from 6 a.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. Sunday left the mayor livid and the parents of three wounded children distraught and angry.

Police said the two dozen victims were shot in 14 separate incidents in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. As of last night, no arrests had been made in any of the shootings.

"These people come with guns and shoot at anyone. They don't care if there are children around," said Charles Walters, 53, whose 11-year-old son, Shaquan, was the youngest of eight people wounded early yesterday at a backyard party in the Bronx by a lone gunman.