ALBANY — Five hours.

Four incidents.

Six injured.

One dead.

As the last of the fireworks at the Empire State Plaza lit up the sky, a night of mayhem began for Albany, with all four violent outbursts happening within one square mile.

Those living in the thick of it all are frustrated, scared and want officials at the top to care.

“It first starts with the people in charge understanding that we have a crisis on our hands. This is an epidemic that disproportionately affects African Americans,” West Hill resident Isaiah Johnson, 28, said. “Most people in the community want to know that someone cares about them.”

The onslaught of violence began shortly before 10 p.m. Wednesday when police responded to a 26-year-old woman shot in the upper leg at Henry Johnson Boulevard and Washington Avenue.

Five minutes later, a 43-year-old man was shot in the torso on Sheridan Avenue between Henry Johnson and Lark Street – a few blocks away from the first shooting.

Police received several calls of shots fired Wednesday into early Thursday, some of them unfounded and others confused with fireworks – a common occurrence, particularly in the warm months, but acting police Chief Bob Sears said Albany’s Fourth of July evening certainly was one of the busiest in recent memory.

Albany had roughly 60 officers on duty in various capacities – from the detail for the fireworks to patrolling the neighborhoods, Sears said.

“Extra police resources didn’t seem to matter,” he said. “People clearly have no regard for human life, and it’s disheartening. We’re doing our best to figure it out and put people in jail. We can’t do it alone.”

Around 1:15 a.m. four people were shot at First Street and Lexington Avenue. Those victims – a 17-year-old girl and three males ages, 14, 15 and 26 – aren’t cooperating with police, something that boils longtime Arbor Hill resident Beverly Padgett’s blood.

“All of these shootings, these people know. It’s not snitching, it’s actually saving your life,” said the 68-year-old woman, a member of the police community advisory group. “Oh my God, I don’t know how to get this across to people.”

Sears said the multiple shooting incidents could possibly be related, but police need cooperation from the victims and residents to move the cases forward.

“It’s going to be harder for us to confirm this because nobody is talking to us,” he said.

The overnight violence didn’t stop with the shootings. Shortly before 2:30 a.m., a 29-year-old man was fatally stabbed by someone he knew on Orange Street between South Swan and Dove streets, police said.

This devastated Padgett, whose youngest daughter cares for the victim’s mother. Police would not confirm the name of the victim Thursday.

“I can’t do nothing but sit here. What a good guy. Always had a heart,” she said. “Always had something nice to say, and he was helping a girl not get beat up and got stabbed. What kind of mess is that?”

Police said they’re actively searching for the assailant in the homicide, which they said was not related to the shootings.

While bullets sliced the hot and humid night air, police recovered two loaded handguns on opposite sides of the city. One was found around 2:15 a.m. in a backpack near a First Street residence located close to where the four victims were shot. Police believe that gun is connection to that shooting. The other was taken around 12:30 a.m. from a Schenectady man, who ran from police on Second Street between Lark and North Swan streets.

Most of the incidents were in Albany’s Third Ward, represented by Common Councilwoman Joyce Love. The first shooting on Washington and Henry Johnson is on the cusp of the Sixth Ward represented by Councilman Richard Conti, and the third that injured four people on First Street borders the Fifth Ward represented by Councilman Jahmel Robinson.

Love said she doesn’t have the answer to addressing the violence that plagues her community but she knows she needs to get together with other elected officials and those involved with the crime to get it to stop.

“This was terrible last night. Yesterday was supposed to be a family fun day,” Love said. “It’s not fair to our young kids. I still don’t know what the solution is. I don’t know if they’ll sit down and talk to us. I’m baffled.”

People living in the community who want to stop the violence face an uphill battle with the criminals and others becoming complacent about solving the crimes.

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“Every time we get together, we can’t come up with solutions except to police our own community, and people don’t want to do that,” Padgett said. “There have been two outdoor meetings for these shootings, and three or four people show up.”

Sears also stressed the need for the residents’ assistance. If anyone has information about the incidents, they’re urged to contact detectives at 518-462-8039. Anonymous tips can be submitted to Capital Region Crime Stoppers, or through the free P3 Tips app.

“If they’re as frustrated as we are, then we need to work on this together,” Sears said.

Johnson, who lives on Swinton Street, was just a few blocks from where one of the shootings took place and knew the victim who was stabbed.

“We need to look out for each other. It really takes a village to raise a kid, and I believe we’ve gotten away from that in recent years,” Johnson said. “We need to set better examples for the young people. My hope for my community is that we will stop the violence.”

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to accurately reflect the cross streets where a Schenectady man was found with an illegal handgun.