Two “brazen” lone gunmen opened fire at a massive Brownsville, Brooklyn, block party on Saturday night, leaving a 38-year-old man dead and 11 others injured, law enforcement sources told The Post.
The gunfire erupted just before 11 p.m. as the annual two-day “Old Timers Day” party was ending and thousands of attendees were leaving, the sources said.
The violence was preliminarily blamed on two shooters who remained at large early Sunday, and who had blasted into the crowd despite a contingent of some 100 cops monitoring the event, the sources said.
“I’ve never heard of 12 people shot in one incident — ever,” one veteran investigator told The Post of the bloodshed at Mendoza Park at Christopher and Hegeman avenues.
“This is one of the worst, most brazen shootings I’ve ever seen.”
Hey @RepJeffries, JUST NOW, THERE ARE 7 PEOPLE SHOT, 2 LIKELY TO EXPIRE AT HEGEMAN AVE X CHRISTOPHER ST. INSTEAD OF BEING BUSY WITH IMPEACHMENT, CLEAN UP YOUR DISTRICT. pic.twitter.com/neQxmpCbD3
— J F (@JFNYC1) July 28, 2019
The injured were rushed to nearby Brookdale Hospital and to Kings County Hospital.
By midnight, detectives had found one abandoned firearm and were combing the ground for more evidence among hundreds of scattered beer bottles, cans, cups and other debris.
The party is in its 56th year and features concerts, food and exhibitions.
Attendees travel from across the country to attend.
“I heard shots and I ducked,” said one 66-year-old man who was at the party.
“When I stuck my head up, and the smoke cleared, it was pure pandemonium,” said the man, who asked not to be named.
“It was chaos,” said Gary Miller, 60, a vendor at the party.
People were breaking down, having outbursts,” he said.
“We were enjoying the evening and all of a sudden shots rang out,” he remembered.
“Shots rang out and the crowd was already dispersing and you heard about 9 to 11 shots and everyone was running and scattering for cover.”
“We had a terrible shooting in Brownsville tonight that shattered a peaceful neighborhood event,” Mayor de Blasio tweeted at close to 1 a.m.
We had a terrible shooting in Brownsville tonight that shattered a peaceful neighborhood event. Our hearts go out to the victims.
We will do everything in our power to keep this community safe and get guns off our streets.— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) July 28, 2019
Police Commissioner James O’Neill promised Sunday morning to find the gunmen who turned a regularly festive Brownsville block party into a tragic episode by opening fire on the crowd.
“It was not a good night in Brownsville,” O’Neill said on NY1 Sunday morning. “This is a great event, been going on a long time. I’m sure we’re going to figure out who did this and bring them to justice.”
The horrific scene unfolded just before 11 p.m. Saturday as the annual “Old Timers Day” party was wrapping up its second day with thousands in attendance.
One person was fatally shot and 11 others were injured — but as of Sunday morning, cops were still trying to figure who pulled the trigger morning and why.
Chief Dermot Shea on Twitter asked for the public’s help.
Sources told The Post police believed there were two gunmen.
Video from the aftermath of the fatal shooting shows dozens of cops comb the streets in Brooklyn hosting the decades-old block party and focus their attention on a black bag with a handgun stashed inside.
Officers with NYPD’s Crime Scene Unit photographed the bag, which was found at the foot of a tree outside a basketball court on Linden Boulevard, and pulled out a black pistol with the slide racked back, video shows.
The officers placed the gun, along with its magazine appearing still loaded with bullets, into an evidence box.
More than 100 officers were patrolling the block party when the gunfire erupted Saturday night, which O’Neill said prevented more people from being shot.
“People felt emboldened enough to shoot other people,” O’Neill said. “I think after the initial shots the person or persons that did the shooting left the scene.”
Six of those injured had been released from the hospital, according to the commissioner.
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