A devastating mass shooting occurred early Sunday morning at the Taste of the City Lounge in Crown Heights, resulting in three fatalities and nine injuries, as reported by the NYPD. The incident took place around 3:30 a.m. at the intersection of Franklin Avenue and Carroll Street, where multiple gunmen unleashed a barrage of gunfire.
According to police investigations, a total of 42 shell casings were recovered from the scene, containing ammunition from both 9mm and 40 caliber firearms. Although the shooters have not yet been identified, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch indicated that authorities suspect as many as four individuals may have been involved in the attack. Preliminary investigations suggest that the shooting may be related to gang activity, which is a significant concern in New York City, where approximately 60 percent of shootings are gang-related.
The NYPD confirmed that the three men who lost their lives in the shooting were aged 19, 27, and 35. The nine additional victims were promptly transported to local hospitals, where they are being treated for non-life-threatening injuries. The ages of those wounded range from 19 to 61 years, with three of them being women. This alarming incident has raised serious concerns about public safety in the area.
James Jones, a resident living directly across from the hookah lounge, recounted his harrowing experience. Having left the bar shortly before the shooting, he returned to find the scene chaotic. "It was a bloodbath," said Jones, 47. "There was blood all over the place, bullet shells all over the place. Two people were laying there dead. One girl was shot in her face. Five or six people outside were shot. This is not Brooklyn. This was like a warzone."
Another local resident, Aykel Lewis, expressed his shock and concern for community safety. "Stuff happened at this place before; it’s not surprising but still surprising at the same time," Lewis noted. "Usually when shootings do happen, a lot of innocent people are the ones that get hurt, sadly. I don’t even know how the guns even got in there in the first place. You usually want to have security in these kinds of places that stay open kind of late."
During a news conference at City Hall, Mayor Eric Adams appealed to the public for assistance in apprehending the shooters. "If you were inside the club, if you heard individuals talking about the shooting, if you witnessed someone fleeing the location, every piece of information would allow us to put the puzzle together to solve this crime," Adams urged. He emphasized that incidents of gun violence of this magnitude leave lasting scars on both the community and the city.
In a separate press briefing on Sunday morning, NYPD officials highlighted a significant decrease in gun violence across the city this year. Commissioner Tisch stated, "We have the lowest number of shooting incidents and shooting victims seven months into the year that we’ve seen on record in the city of New York." She acknowledged this shooting as an anomaly, expressing gratitude that such incidents are infrequent in the city. "It's a terrible thing that happened this morning, but we’re going to investigate and get to the bottom of what went down," Tisch added.
According to NYPD data, from January through July, 489 individuals were shot, marking the lowest number of shooting incidents during the first seven months of a calendar year since 2017. This statistic highlights the ongoing efforts to combat gun violence in New York City, even as the community grapples with the tragic aftermath of this latest shooting.
