Detectives probe for evidence after a mass shooting outside the
Roosevelt Gardens housing complex in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
8 people shot at
Bed-Stuy concert
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI &
COURIER LIFE, AUGUST 20-26, 2021 5
BEN VERDE
A gunmen opened fi re
into a crowd of people at a
gathering outside a Bedford
Stuyvesant housing
complex on Aug. 16, hitting
eight people with bullets
in a brazen mass shooting
that shocked the local community.
NYPD offi cials say the
gunfi re erupted at around
12:24 outside the Roosevelt
Houses New York City
Housing Authority development
on Dekalb Avenue.
According to Deputy
Chief John Chell, the commanding
offi cer of the
Brooklyn North Detective
Bureau, as many as 150 people
were gathered outside
the Roosevelt Houses listening
to music when the bullets
started fl ying.
“The two shooters come
off of Pulaski Street and
fi re into this crowd,” Chell
said. Police say it’s unclear
who the gunmen were aiming
for.
Two stray bullets also
smashed through the windows
of nearby apartments,
but none of the occupants
inside were injured, according
to Chell.
When the smoke cleared,
eight people gathered at the
location had been wounded
— three men and fi ve
women, all of them between
18 and 27 years of age. None
of them suffered life-threatening
wounds; Chell indicated
many of them were
wounded in the legs, arms
or hips.
EMS units rushed the
victims to nearby hospitals
for treatment of their injuries.
Detectives are continuing
to canvass the crime
scene for ballistic and
other evidence related to
the shooting. Chell said police
have obtained numerous
pieces of video evidence
at or near the crime scene
which detectives will examine
in the hope of spotting
the shooters involved.
Police appealed to the
public to come forward with
any information they may
have about the shooting.
“We’re asking for any
help we can get,” Chell said.
“There was about 100 to 150
people out here. People saw
what happened.”
The 79th precinct, which
encompasses Bedford
Stuyvesant, is one of the
more gun-violence affected
precincts in New York, with
30 shooting incidents so
far this year, according to
NYPD data. Violent crime
citywide, however, remains
at a low level despite a spike
during the pandemic. Both
June and July saw violent
crime fi nally start to trend
downward citywide, reversing
a pandemic trend.
OUR STREETS!’
an end to gun violence
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer joins fellow elected to stand up against gun violence.