A shooting on September 2 in Brooklyn at the West Indian Day Parade has left one person dead and four injured.
Police say the victim who died was Denzel Chan, 25, of Texas, who took a bullet in his abdomen and later died from the wound.
Gunfire started ringing out before 2 pm on the sidewalks in Crown Heights during the parade. According to NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell, an unidentified gunman fired “numerous times into a crowd.” The gunfire hit three other victims, none of whom have been named. One was a 69-year-old woman who was shot in her shoulder, a 64-year-old man who took a bullet in his right arm, a 16-year-old who was also shot in the arm, and a 26-year-old man who was shot in the head. All of them were taken to Kings County Hospital for treatment.
Police are investigating and don’t yet know the motive, and are trying to figure out if the deadly violence was gang-related. The uncle of the man who died (Denzel Chan), Emanuel Dover, said his nephew was just unlucky to be where he was. He said Denzel was not in a gang and was a “very good kid.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a former cop, said the shootings didn’t look like the usual MO of gang fights, but that no one is yet sure what happened.
The suspect police are seeking is described as being six-feet-tall and slender, and was wearing a bandana on his face and a brown shirt with paint splatters on it. He appeared to be in his 20s.
Perhaps feeling sensitive about criticism of the police, mayor Adams said the NYPD had rounded up 25 illegal guns around the parade. “One nut shot five people,” Adams said.
The West Indian Day Parade is a traditional celebration held on Labor Day in Brooklyn and it’s one of the biggest annual events; the parade continued despite the violence.
Parade vendor Herb Nelson said the gunshots went off just 10 feet away from him, and people were ducking and covering as he saw a victim “slumped on the ground.”
