ALBANY — Reginald Graham pulled his 9-year-old grandson, Noah, to the ground and began crawling furiously to the back of his Second Avenue barbershop as bullets ripped through the building Saturday afternoon.
As Graham tried to get his grandson to safety, one of his employees, Tyrone Staley, 47, lay on the ground bleeding from fatal gunshot wounds to his shoulder and torso. Graham’s grandson suffered a graze wound. A 19-year-old was shot in the foot.
Staley was the sole fatality as 10 people were victims in five shootings across the city over the weekend. A second child was also shot just hours after Graham’s grandson, the third child struck by a bullet in the city in the last month.
“I had to watch my friend die,” Graham said Monday.
The gunfire was so heavy Graham believes it came from automatic weapons.
“The shots just kept coming. I thought it was an invasion. I thought they were coming inside,” he said.
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Bullet holes pierced the window at the Village Barber and Beauty at 221 Second Ave., Albany, when someone opened fire on the shop Saturday, May 13, 2023, killing a man and wounding a 9-year-old child and another man. The child was the first of two children to be wounded in a shooting Saturday in Albany. A 7-year-old was shot late Saturday evening. Both children were expected to survive, police said.
Melissa Manno/Times Union
Graham, a pastor at Riverview Missionary Baptist Church in Coeymans, has run the shop there for more than two decades. The shop has a Bible in the window and plays Gospel music. Graham said he made a point to keep the shop a safe and positive place for the neighborhood — no cursing, no smoking marijuana and no negativity.
“People know what it’s about, that’s why they come here,” he said.
Staley had previously worked at a barbershop on North Pearl Street. He and Graham knew each other and six years ago he approached Graham to ask for a job at Village Barber and Beauty at 221 Second Ave.
Graham recalled his friend as a happy, likable person who gave back without the expectation of recognition.
“He’s probably the most faithful barber I’ve ever had,” Graham said.
Staley often volunteered to give free haircuts, including at the Capital City Rescue Mission where Graham is a counselor. He also volunteered at Graham’s church and would offer kids free haircuts before their first day of school.
He also worked tirelessly to help his fiancée open her own salon several years ago, Graham said.
Staley was set to marry her in February. Graham was going to be their officiant. He leaves behind a son, a daughter and raised two other daughters as his own, according to a GoFundMe that was set up to help his family with funeral expenses.
Staley’s family declined to comment through a family friend.
“He was a loving and devoted father, kind and caring friend, extremely talented barber, and just a genuine and happy man,” the fundraiser’s organizer wrote.
No arrests have been in any of the five shootings. During a news conference on Monday, Police Chief Eric Hawkins said officers do not believe any of the shootings are connected.
The gunfire began around 12:30 a.m. Saturday at a North Pearl Street house hosting an illegal club in the basement unit. A 23-year-old man was shot in the hip and a 47-year-old woman on the first floor was shot in the torso and wrist.
Fourteen hours later, there was a drive-by shooting at Graham’s barbershop on Second Avenue. Around 10:30 p.m., a shooter fired multiple times into a large crowd at the intersection of Second and Ontario streets. The bullets struck a 37-year-old man and a 7-year-old child. Then, 80 minutes later, more shots fired calls came in, including one from Mayor Kathy Sheehan, who said she heard shots while in her house. Two men, ages 30 and 35, were wounded near the intersection of First and North Swan streets.
The fifth shooting happened around 12:30 a.m. Monday. A 29-year-old man was shot in the back near Trinity Place and Madison Avenue. None of the nine people who survived those shootings are believed to have life-threatening wounds.
The city has recorded six homicides so far this year. City police are also investigating the death of an 11th-grader who died after a shooting on Livingston Avenue earlier this month. But authorities have not said whether the boy’s death was a homicide.
Hawkins, standing beside representatives from local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies on Monday, said the shootings were the actions of a small group of violent individuals.
“Be aware you have our full attention,” he said. “And we are coming for you.”
Sheehan said the gunfire, especially the two shootings that wounded children, were indiscriminate acts of depraved violence.
“I’m outraged that two young children have been impacted by this gun violence, because while their injuries are as we say, non-life-threatening, the trauma that they have experienced will last with them their entire lives,” she said.
Sheehan said she was sitting in her front room when she heard the gunshots on First and North Swan.
“This is something that is impacting everyone in our city,” she said. “And I want to assure our residents, this is not something that’s theoretical to me. We have to ensure that we are doing all that we can because every resident of the city deserves to be safe.”
Sheehan urged residents to call the city’s anonymous Crimestoppers tip line to report illegal weapons or disputes that might lead to future shootings, noting that the city can assist people with mental health support, jobs and other resources.
Albany County District Attorney David Soares highlighted the shooting that killed Staley. Barbershops and beauty salons have a special significance in the Black community, he said.
“This is one of the most sacred things — it’s like our church. And the idea that you would violate that place, the idea that you would do a drive-by in that place and harm our people, our citizens because of the grievance that you have towards someone, it’s outrageous.”
Soares, like Hawkins, spoke directly to people involved in the shootings. He rattled off the names of several men responsible for some of the more high-profile homicides the city has seen in the last few years. All of them are now serving lengthy prison sentences.
He also echoed Sheehan’s call for residents to call in tips that might help police solve cases or prevent future violence.
“We have people who are so committed to this cause that we’ve been able to apprehend individuals with a cigarette butt left at a crime scene,” he said.