Lawmakers Lead Rallies As Another Dies in Crossfire

A young woman has died after being caught in the crossfire of a shooting at a Queens bar early Monday morning, police said. It is the second such death in less than a week.

Police said the two suspects in the latest shooting appeared to be aiming for another man when they began shooting in the bar just after 2 a.m. yesterday, hitting Adrena Valderradama, 24, in the back and killing her.

Another victim, a 23-year-old man whom police did not identify, was shot in the right arm and is in stable condition at Elmhurst General Hospital, police said.

The two suspects fled the scene in a dark car, and investigators were awaiting ballistics evidence to determine if two guns were fired, police said.

The shooting followed closely upon the death of another woman, Carol Simone, who was killed when she was caught in the crossfire of a gunfight outside of her apartment building in Crown Heights on Saturday.

Local leaders, including a City Council member, Leticia James, and Brooklyn's president, Marty Markowitz, yesterday held the second rally in as many days to protest the shooting of Simone and rising violence in the area.

"The surge of gun violence in Brooklyn this year is totally unacceptable," Ms. James said.

Murders are down overall in the city and in the two precincts that cover Crown Heights, including the precinct where Simone was killed. Across North Brooklyn, they are up slightly, however, to 135 so far this year compared with 130 last year.

There were no arrests in either shooting as of yesterday evening.