NYPD: African oil vendor shoots 2 rivals near Yankee Stadium

DRAMA:A cop trains his gun yesterday on Horace Coleman, who allegedly shot two people, including this man, near Yankee Stadium.

A Bronx street vendor in a pinstripe suit and derby hat shot two competitors Thursday outside Yankee Stadium, where witnesses claim a sidewalk turf war had been brewing.

The shoot-’em-up on Gerard Ave. and E. 161st St. erupted at 1:45 p.m. when the nattily dressed African oil salesman armed with a .357 Magnum went berserk.

A 41-year-old man peddling newspapers and magazines was shot multiple times, and a 60-year-old man selling bottled water was hit once during the barrage, which sent patrons and other vendors diving for cover.

The gunman, Horace Coleman, 52, tried to run from the scene but was quickly captured by four officers from nearby Bronx Supreme Court, who were on their lunch break, sources and officials said..

“He didn’t say anything. He walked up, pulled out and started firing. Bang! Bang! Bang!” said witness Leroy McGrant, 56.

The dapper pistol-packer is known on the streets as “Ace,” other street vendors said.

“They were trying to bully him out of his spot,” said Gracie Olivera, Coleman’s friend who watched his eventual surrender.

Coleman was arrested by Bronx court officers Wascar Herrera, Steve Snyder, and Sgts. Paul Tammaro and Vincent Alis.

“Their respective actions of bravery exemplify the standard of professionalism and courage of all New York State court officers,” said Richard Krulish, president of state Supreme Court Officers Association.


McGrant and another witness, a female panhandler, said the gunman was dressed in a gray pinstriped suit, pink shirt and burgundy tie. He was also wearing a spiffy derby and gold-framed sunglasses.


“He was standing on the corner nice and dressed up. I said, ‘You look nice, dude,’” said the wheelchair-bound panhandler of her encounter with the shooter moments before the bloodshed.

Fellow vendors said the suspect sells African oils and sunglasses at a stand bearing President Obama’s picture.

Witnesses said the hot-headed hawker had left his nephew in charge of his stand. When he came back, he found his nephew arguing with the two men. That’s when the gunman opened fire.

McGrant said he rushed to help the younger victim — who was shot multiple times in the abdomen — after the officers nabbed the gunman.

“He was still conscious,” McGrant said of the victim. “He was saying he couldn’t breathe.”

The wounded men were taken to Lincoln Medical Center, where the newspaper vendor was in critical condition. The older victim, who had one bullet wound to the stomach, was stable.

The victims’ names were not immediately released. But fellow vendors said they were familiar with the gunman, who was handcuffed and hauled off.

Cops did not reveal a motive, but vendors said there’s been a war going on over the best sidewalk turf.

“It’s a great commercial area, everything is right here,” said vendor Cris Rodney, 53. “There have been ongoing disputes in this area for a while, but I didn’t expect it to come to this.”

A man who once worked for the shooter described him as a “real bad dude.”

But Valerie Coleman, the shooter’s sister, told The News he is a “man of God” with “a good heart.”

“He was defending himself. They threatened his life,” she said.