Gun vic lived for music: kin
Killer on loose after shooting at Bronx club
The family of a 26-year-old man shot dead outside a Bronx nightclub described him Sunday as a larger-than-life presence with a penchant for bringing people together through Caribbean music and cuisine.
Oliver Askia was blasted in the chest outside Krystal Bar & Lounge on University Ave. near Featherbed Lane in Morris Heights about 10:50 p.m. Saturday, police said.
Askia, who lived in East New York, Brooklyn, was taken to Jacobi Medical Center in a private vehicle, but he could not be saved.
The gunman has not been caught.
Askia’s devastated family members struggled to make sense of his death.
“We’re not okay,” said his cousin Elga Garcia, 41. “We are speechless, dumbfounded. It’s senseless. We’re trying to find answers. Everything is confusing at the moment.”
“I don’t know if he was being targeted or it was some kind of lost bullet. His mom is in shock.”
Juana Cacho somberly remembered her son as kindhearted and loving with a big appetite for music — and pasta.
“He never gave me any headaches, and he was respectful,” Cacho, 62, said, speaking in Spanish.
“He was peaceful, loving, caring. He loved to cook. He loved to eat good food. He loved pasta with shrimp.”
Askia was with friends at a music event before the shooting, relatives said.
“He was a young man doing his thing, living his life,” Garcia said. “He loved music. He was passionate about music, Caribbean music.”
Garcia said her cousin was working on creating a podcast and relished bringing people together through music.
“He was a well-grounded young man trying to figure out life,” she said.
“This is just another example of senseless gun violence in the streets of the Bronx, and we’re just tired of it I guess. It’s just ridiculous.”
There have been 25 shootings in the 46th Precinct, which covers the Morris Heights area of the Bronx this year through Nov. 24, compared to 21 during the same period last year, according to NYPD stats.
Citywide, there have been 708 shootings so far this year compared with 683 by this time last year.