Three people are dead and 10 others were wounded after a shooting at the Taste of the City lounge in Crown Heights, Brooklyn early Sunday.
The shooting happened just before 3:30 a.m. inside the lounge on 903 Franklin Avenue. Immediately, numerous 911 calls came in to emergency responders. Within minutes, officers arrived, finding that nine men and three women, ranging in age from 19 to 61, had been shot, report agencies.
Among the dead, one man, 19, was pronounced dead at the scene while two other men aged 27 and 35, were critically wounded and succumbed to their injuries at a NY hospital. The remaining victims are being treated for non-life-threatening injuries at nearby hospitals, according to NYC Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
A mother of two was with a man inside the lounge around 3:30 a.m. Sunday when bullets started flying. In all of the chaos, the pair was separated.
The lounge put out a statement saying in part, ‘the safety and well-being of our guests and community has always been our top priority.’ However, many say it is bad news. Last November, a 28-year-old was shot and injured outside the same spot.
Mayor Adams says the big concern now is fallout, which is why crisis management teams are in place. “After gang-involved shootings, you can have retaliatory actions,” Adams said.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch added that up to 60 percent of shootings in New York City are gang-related.
Detectives recovered a firearm near Bedford Avenue and Eastern Parkway, but are still investigating at this time whether this firearm was tied to the shooting incident.
“If you were inside the club, if you heard individuals talking about shooting, if you witnessed someone fleeing the location, every piece of information would allow us to put the puzzle together to solve this crime,” Mayor Eric Adams said, “The gun violence of this magnitude, it really scars a community and a city. We will continue our aggressive pursuit to remove these illegal guns off our streets.”
Police have not made any arrests, and the investigation is ongoing.