There Was a Fatal Shooting at a Brooklyn Barbecue on Sunday
Just before 1am on Sunday morning, three people were shot at a barbecue celebrating a college graduation. Via the New York Daily News, “a 21-year-old man was killed and two teenage women were wounded when a gunman opened fire at a crowded barbecue” in the Bed-Stuy section of Brooklyn. The three victims were rushed to Kings County Hospital Center, where the young man was pronounced dead and the women (17- and 19-years-old) were treated—both are currently recovering and in stable condition.
The barbecue took place on Quincy Street, just off Marcus Garvey Boulevard, but what had been a fairly typical celebratory affair quickly turned into a terrifying experience for the approximately 75 people still in attendance. The News spoke with bystanders who said they had just been enjoying the barbecue when “all the sudden, pow, pow, pow, pow… four shots, they sounded like firecrackers. People started running inside and grabbing kids.”
While police have not yet arrested anyone in connection with the shooting, they have released information about the victim, including his previous run-ins with the law (“seven prior arrests, four sealed… he had been arrested four days earlier for allegedly stabbing a woman in the foot and then smashing her windshield in April… also previously arrested on drug possession charges). Perhaps this is the NYPD’s attempt to alleviate any fears that this might have been a random crime, not dissimilar to the horrific stabbings committed last week by Daniel St. Hubert or the senseless shooting rampages that took place in Las Vegas in Sunday or in Seattle last week… the list goes on.
It was only two weeks ago that Richard Martinez—father of Christopher Michael-Martinez, one of the six UCSB students murdered by Elliot Rodger—raged against politicians and pleaded with this nation to make a stand against guns. “Not one more,” he said. “Not one more.” And despite the many people who tweeted that sentiment or sent letters to their representatives or posted something supportive on Facebook, it hardly seems like much is changing where it needs to change. There have already been many more who have died of gun violence in the last two weeks, and even more, it seems, are sure to follow.
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