On the night of the shooting, several Dukes went over to the west side to a candy store at 652 Amsterdam Avenue.\u00a0 Apparently this is where the Dragons hung out, so it could very well be that this Dragons’ gang wasn’t the East Harlem Dragons, but a west side branch of the Dragons.<\/p>\n
But first, the Dukes went to the candy store in the afternoon – about 15 of them.\u00a0 By the sounds of it, they might have gone there in the afternoon for a scouting expedition because all they did was look into the candy store and leave.<\/p>\n
That night, cutting through Central Park and through Columbus Avenue to the west side – back to the candy store they visited in the afternoon – four Dukes’ went looking for a fight.\u00a0 Jose Estremera (aka “Juan”), Raphael Buitrago, Felix Figueroa (aka “The Undertaker”) and an unidentified juvenile.\u00a0 Juan had hidden a sawed-off Remington model #6 rifle on the roof of his building.\u00a0 Taking two practice shots up on the roof, he came down with the rifle and 14 bullets for their upcoming excursion\u00a0 The boys all agreed amongst themselves that they were going to “burn” some Dragons, the ones they had seen previously in the day.\u00a0 Apparently a friend of Estremera (Juan) had told him that the Dragons had come looking for the Dukes earlier in the day.\u00a0 It seems they were looking for a specific Dragons’ gang member because later they were telling the police that they were looking for a Dragon who was wearing “brown slippers.”<\/p>\n
![\"Remington](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newyorkcitygangs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/acfb3b3.jpg?resize=640%2C427&ssl=1\" "\\"Remington")
<\/a>This rifle was not used in the shooting, but is what a Remington model #6 looked like. The gun used in the shooting between the Dukes and Dragons was sawed-off.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"Ad](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newyorkcitygangs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/rem_model_6.jpg?resize=640%2C348&ssl=1\" "\\"Ad")
<\/a>Ad for Remington model #6<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
Walking towards their destination, Juan gave the gun to Buitrago who put a shell into the gun.\u00a0 19-year-old Buitrago later told the police it was hard for him to remember things because he was crazy and he just “started shooting.”\u00a0 According to witnesses, the boys got to the candy store, with Buitrago and Juan seeing 4-5 Dragons lolling about while the Undertaker set up post down the street, watching for cops.\u00a0 Buitrago asked them if they were Dragons and they replied in the negative.\u00a0 But Buitrago knew better and ordered the Dragons into the candy store.\u00a0 Without warning he pulled the sawed-off rifle from his pocket where it was hidden, and shot at them as they scurried inside.\u00a0 He then put another shell in the gun, shooting again.\u00a0 Serrano was hit in the back, with the bullet coming out of his left shoulder.\u00a0 Seriously injured, he was hospitalized for a month to recover from his injury.<\/p>\n
![\"652](\"https:\/\/newyorkcitygangs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/652-Amsterdam-Ave.bmp\" "\\"652")
<\/a>Present-day 652 Amsterdam Ave., the scene of shooting in 1956 between Dukes & Dragons gang.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
The Dukes high-tailed it out of there back to where they lived in East Harlem.\u00a0 When they got back to home turf they gave the left-over bullets to Manuel Rodriguez, who appears to be another Duke.\u00a0 Juan then stashed the rifle under the bathtub in his home.\u00a0 Later that day Felix, Raphael and Jose got together to talk over the events.\u00a0 Raphael and Jose were delighted with the outcome saying “man we played nice today.”\u00a0 But The Undertaker (Felix) was scared and the next morning when he saw the newspaper which had reported the shooting, he went to Jose’s house, very worried.\u00a0 Jose and Felix went up to his roof to talk about it.\u00a0 Felix wanted to give himself up to the police, but Jose was not worried in the slightest: “don’t worry, they’re not going to catch us.”\u00a0 But Felix persisted in wanting to give himself up, but Jose replied, “for what man, you give yourself up they’re going to hit you in order to make you talk.”\u00a0 Felix knew what he was talking about because two Viceroys that live near him, “Mig” and “Junior,” had been taken to jail for gang-related offenses.\u00a0 Jose ridiculed Felix saying “you’re scared,” and that “I ain’t punking out, I’d rather go to court, you guys will be in jail.”\u00a0 Felix, realizing he wasn’t going to convince Jose took off for Brooklyn, to escape capture by the police.\u00a0 He stayed there for a short time and when he came back, the cops were waiting for him, just as he thought would happen.<\/p>\n
When the police interrogated Felix, Jose and Juan, they all made full admissions to their crime and were sentenced for felonious assault and possession of a weapon.\u00a0 I’m not certain about what happened to the victim Serrano or to the Dukes involved in this shooting, but if you know I would love to find out how their lives ended turning out…<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On June 11, 1956, there was an Harlem gang fight that involved the shooting of Victor Serrano, a member of the Dragons.\u00a0 The gang that attacked him was called the “Dukes.” It is a little fuzzy to me about whether … Continue reading