Approximately 23 of the “most dangerous” individuals in New York City have been arrested by NYPD following a two-year investigation that was sparked by the death of a mother-of-two killed by a stray bullet.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced the arrests of the two subsets of the “Crips” street gang in a statement on Feb. 14.

One of the subsets was based in the Astoria Houses and the other in the Woodside Houses, which are New York City Housing Authority developments, according to officials.

The Astoria Crips belong to the “Rollin’ Crip” gang, known also as the “Hip Hop Boys,” their rap music group name, officials said, while the Woodside Crips belong to the “8 Trey Crip” set. Their rap music name is “Tru Crash Gettas.”

The arrested individuals have been charged with an array of crimes including conspiracy to commit murder, second-degree attempted murder, reckless endangerment, and gun possession in connection with a number of violent incidents, including shootouts in broad daylight on busy streets.

The majority of the defendants were arraigned last week on an 85-count indictment and are set to appear in court in March. They face years in prison if found guilty.

“Warring gangs are not just a threat to themselves, but to all of us,” District Attorney Katz said. “The reckless criminality we saw during the course of this investigation is the kind of lawlessness that has killed law-abiding New Yorkers caught in the crossfire of gang gun violence.”

According to Adams and Katz, the two subsets of gangs were aligned up until Aug. 4, 2018, when Isiah King of Woodside Houses assaulted Djuan Price of Astoria Houses over a drug deal.

The following day, Price and his brother, Elijah Price, went to the Woodside Houses’ development in retaliation and were armed with handguns. While they were unable to find King, they tracked down his close friend and fellow gang member, Jaffvonta Reid, and shot him in the leg.

Further tension between the two gang subsets was allegedly fuelled by social media and rap videos in which they taunted one another, leading to over 18 acts of gun-related violence, including homicide, attempted murder, and gun possession.

Many of the violent acts were conducted in front of small children, according to Adams and Katz.

The criminal acts included Woodside gang members opening fire on a vehicle they believed to be occupied by a rival gang member while a young girl stood at an ice cream truck nearby.

Another crime involved Astoria gang members entering a housing development and opening fire on opposition gang members while other residents, including several small children, stood in the courtyard of the building, officials said. During that incident, one gang member and an innocent bystander were hit.

Multiple other similar shooting incidents took place at the hands of the gang members, according to Adams and Katz.

The takedown operation, called “Operation AQtively Movin,” was initiated by the death of Gudelia Vallinas, a 37-year-old mother of two who was shot in March 2021 by gang members as she made her way to the supermarket to buy milk for her children, Queens District Attorney Deputy Chief Jason Savino said.

“Ms. Vallinas is our American dream whose life was suddenly halted due to gang members recklessly firing bullets with total disregard of anybody around them. Absolutely horrific,” Savino said. “Now our beautiful members of Queens deserve to be able to enjoy the beautiful parks; walk along Broadway or Steinway Street without any fear of gunfire. These gangs did all they could to intimidate our streets.”

The joint takedown operation was conducted by the Queens County District Attorney’s Office along with Detectives from the New York Police Department’s Violence Reduction Task Force, under the supervision of the NYPD’s Gun Violence Suppression Division.

The arrest of the 23 gang members comes as crime has exploded in New York City in recent years and the city’s police department has seen a mass exodus.

In 2021, there were 264 homicides in New York—the highest number in a decade. While that figure dropped slightly to 253 in 2022, felony assaults increased by nearly 20 percent, while grand theft rose to nearly 17 percent.

“Since day one, public safety has been our administration’s top priority, and that’s why we have been working around the clock to stop gun violence and to keep guns and repeat offenders off our streets,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement.

“This case is another victory in our work to remove New York’s most dangerous individuals from our communities,” Adams said.