Gunman Opens Fire at July 4 Barbecue in Brooklyn, Wounding 8, Including 4 Children
Eight people, including four children, were shot during a July 4 barbecue in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn on Saturday night, police said, as the city marked its first Independence Day under a new mayor.
According to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, the gunman — described as a man dressed entirely in black and wearing a black ski mask — approached the fence line of a home along Surf Avenue around 10:35 p.m. and fired multiple rounds into a courtyard where a family was celebrating. He then fled on foot, leaving chaos and bloodshed behind.
Officers arriving at the scene found eight victims: four boys ages 6, 7, 12 and 14; two women, ages 21 and 25; and two men, ages 33 and 37, the NYPD said. The 21-year-old woman and the 33-year-old man were both shot in the chest. The 6-year-old was struck in the abdomen, while the three older boys sustained gunshot wounds to the leg or thigh.
The 21-year-old woman remained in critical condition Sunday morning, while the other seven victims were listed as stable, according to police.
“There is no place for this kind of violence in our city. We will not tolerate it, and we will fight it with every single tool at our disposal,” said New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who took office earlier this year. “As we mourn alongside those whose loved ones have been hurt, let us also recommit ourselves to the work of building a city where every celebration is safe and every holiday is joyful.”
Authorities have not released the victims’ names or disclosed a motive. But Tisch told reporters Sunday morning that there was no indication of any argument or altercation at the barbecue before the attack. She added that a “confirmed gang-related homicide” occurred on the same block last week, and investigators were exploring whether the two incidents were connected.
A TEC-9-style firearm fitted with an extended magazine was recovered at the scene, along with 10 spent shell casings, Tisch said. No arrests have been made.
The shooting came on the same weekend that an NYPD detective was also struck by gunfire in Brooklyn. Just after 4 a.m. Sunday, officers in an unmarked vehicle confronted an armed 18-year-old in the Crown Heights neighborhood. The detective was hit in the back of his ballistic vest but was not seriously injured, Mamdani said. The suspect was subdued with a Taser, disarmed and taken into custody. A second officer suffered facial and shoulder contusions.
The detective had been working a 12-hour shift since Saturday afternoon, the mayor noted, “protecting New Yorkers on the Fourth of July.”
The violence cast a shadow over what should have been a celebratory holiday, reigniting concerns about public safety in a city that has seen a slight uptick in shootings in recent weeks. Community leaders called for increased police presence in residential neighborhoods and for greater investment in violence prevention programs.