Three people were killed and another nine were wounded in a mass shooting at a New York City club early Sunday morning.
Gunfire began around 3:30 a.m. inside the Taste of the City Lounge in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Authorities believe a “dispute” took place involving up to four shooters prior to the shooting.
As of Sunday morning, no suspects have been identified or apprehended.
The three deceased victims were all men and were pronounced dead at the crime scene. The nine other victims, six men and three women, were hospitalized for non-life-threatening injuries. The 12 victims ranged in age from 19 to 61.
The shooting comes amid a record low year for gun violence in New York City.
“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,” New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters during a brief press conference.
During the first seven months of this year, New York City experienced 412 shooting incidents with 489 shooting victims. Those numbers are down from the previous record lows in 2017 and 2018, according to the NYPD. Last month also set new record lows, starting with the July 4 holiday weekend, which saw the lowest shooting totals ever recorded for the three-day period.
“Something like this is, of course, thank God, an anomaly, and 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 said.
Mayor Eric Adams denounced the gun violence, saying, “It really scars a community and a city.” Sunday’s incident was the second New York City mass shooting in recent weeks, following one late last month that claimed the lives of four people, including an NYPD officer. The gunman also killed himself.
“This is the second within weeks, and we don’t want this to turn into a normal course of doing business of violence in our city,” Adams said at a press conference later Sunday morning.
ADAMS PITCHES PLAN TO GET DRUG ADDICTS OFF NYC STREETS
Tisch revealed the latest shooting may be “gang-related.”
At least 42 shell casings from multiple guns were found at the crime scene, police said. Officers recovered a firearm near the scene and are trying to determine whether it was used in the shooting. No other details were immediately provided.
