UPDATE: 5th Suspect Sought in Brooklyn Gang Rape as Mayor, Residents Express Outrage
Four teens have been taken into custody as suspects in the gang rape of a Brooklyn woman, investigators said late Sunday.
One suspect is still at large after the allegations sparked community outrage and prompted a New York City council member to lament that the city has sunk to "an all-time moral low."
Investigators didn't disclose the names of the suspects in custody, but said two are 15 years old and the other two are 14 and 17. Charges against the teens were pending Monday morning.
Police had been asking for the public's help to identify the five assailants wanted in connection with sex attack on Friday night in Osborn Playground in Brownsville.
Authorities say the 18-year-old victim was walking through the park with her father when the suspects set on the pair. One of the suspects pointed a gun at the father and told him to leave the park.
The attackers then each allegedly raped the woman, authorities say. They ran off when the woman's father returned with two police officers.
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The woman was taken to Kings County Hospital for treatment after the attack.
The NYPD released a surveillance video of the suspects entering a bodega prior to the attack.
City Council Member Laurie A. Cumbo condemned the attack and called on residents to cooperate with police investigators.
"When an 18-year-old girl can get raped while walking with her father in a park by five men in Brownsville, New York, we have hit an all-time moral low in the City of New York," she said.
Cumbo, chair of the council's Committee on Women's Issues, seized the occasion to criticize NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton.
"To add insult to injury, NYPD Commissioner Bratton's response to the escalation of violence against women in cabs was for women to utilize the 'buddy system,' " she said.
Mayor de Blasio pledged "to take every step possible" to apprehend and prosecute the attackers.
“I am disgusted and deeply saddened by the horrific attack that took place in Brownsville Thursday evening," he said. "Every New Yorker in every neighborhood deserves to feel safe and protected, and we will not stop until the perpetrators of this disturbing attack are held accountable for their actions."
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams issued a statement saying he was "sickened" by the attack and urged the city to improve the lighting and design of public spaces such as Osborn Park.
"I do not accept a city where reports of rape and sexual assault are on the rise," he said.
The NYPD rejected criticism that officers were slow to respond to the incident.
"A patrol car from the 73 Precinct was approached on the street and told about the attack by the victim's father, who directed the officers to the scene," responded Stephen P. Davis, an NYPD spokesman. "The officers immediately responded and located the victim. The suspects had already fled."
Anyone with information about the fifth suspect is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
