Police in Brooklyn are scrambling to find the suspects behind a mass shooting inside a restaurant early on Sunday morning that left three people dead and nine others injured.
According to Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, the bloodbath occurred just before 3:30 a.m. on Aug. 17 inside a Crown Heights restaurant and club named Taste of the City, located at 903 Franklin Ave. Numerous 911 calls came in about the incident in which the callers said multiple gunmen had walked into the establishment and began firing.
“Officers arrived within minutes of the first 911 calls and found numerous gunshot victims inside of the location. Currently, we have identified 11 victims ranging in age from 27 to 61, eight males and three females,” Tisch said during a morning press conference.
She added that three men have been pronounced dead, including a 27-year-old man, a 35-year-old man, as well as a third man whose age has yet to be determined.
Later that morning police confirmed they linked an additional male victim the the chaos, bringing the total to 12. Police report that the nine survivors are in stable condition at various hospitals and are expected to recover.
36 shells found at mass shooting scene
Police recovered at least 36 shell casings from multiple guns at the scene. A firearm was also recovered in the vicinity of Bedford Avenue and Eastern Parkway, cops reported; Tisch said police are looking into whether this weapon was tied to the shooting.
One eyewitness said he was sitting in his vehicle when he saw the shooting unfold.
“I was sitting in my car when I heard gunshots,” a man who asked not to be named. “I see blood and people running.”
While the cause of the shooting has yet to be determined, Tisch stressed that an incident of this nature is an “anomaly” in the Big Apple.
“We have the lowest number of shooting incidents and shooting victims seven months into the year we’ve seen on record in the city of New York,” she said. “Something like this is, of course, thank God, an anomaly, and it’s a terrible thing that’s happened this morning.”
Hours after sunrise Sunday, the block surrounding the restaurant and club remained sealed off to the public as police continued their investigation.
Tisch noted that the Taste of the City club had another, albeit non-fatal shooting last November. One local resident told amNewYork the club’s presence has become more than a nuisance for the neighborhood.
“They need to close this bar down, this place has become a major problem over the last five years,” local Claude Rogers said.
No arrests have been made in the ongoing investigation.
Anyone with information regarding the mass shooting can call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS (for Spanish, dial 888-57-PISTA). You can also submit tips online at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, or on X (formerly Twitter) @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
