Multiple Shooters Sought After Deadly Gang-Related Incident at Brooklyn Lounge Leaves 12 Victims, Including Three Fatalities
In Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood, authorities are actively searching for multiple suspects involved in a gang-related shooting that occurred at Taste of the City lounge late Saturday night. The incident left three individuals dead and nine others injured.
Commissioner Jessica Tisch confirmed the identities of 12 victims from the shooting that unfolded around 3:30 a.m., initially reporting 11 victims. Among the deceased, a 19-year-old male was found on the scene, while a 27-year-old man and a 35-year-old man succumbed to their injuries at the hospital. The remaining nine individuals sustained non-life-threatening wounds and were hospitalized.
Victims ranged in age from 19 to 61, with some believed to have been directly involved in the shooting, while others were bystanders. The commissioner stressed that this information remains preliminary.
Taste of the City, located on Franklin Ave., offers food, cocktails, hookah, and nightly entertainment. As of now, no suspects have been apprehended, and police are seeking up to four individuals believed to be involved in the incident. Preliminary evidence indicates 42 shell casings from 9 mm and .45 caliber weapons at the scene.
Police are also examining a firearm discovered nearby to establish any potential connection to the shooting.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has called for anyone with relevant information about the incident to come forward, and he has mobilized police and community partners to collaborate with friends, families, and victims to prevent any retaliatory action.
“We are vigilant after a shooting, aware that retaliatory shootings may occur if we don’t deploy our crisis management team and other partners swiftly,” Adams stated.
Commissioner Tisch reported that over half of the city’s shootings stem from gang violence but emphasized that this incident represents an “anomaly” in New York, where shootings are on a decline. She highlighted the city experiencing the lowest number of shooting incidents and victims seven months into the year since records began.
However, this tragedy follows a series of summer shootings in the city, including a shooting earlier this month in Times Square that injured three individuals and a high-profile shooting in a Manhattan skyscraper that claimed four lives in July.
According to data from the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 272 mass shootings across the United States this year alone. The organization, similar to CNN, defines a mass shooting as an incident where at least four people are injured (excluding the shooter).