What to Know
- At least 20 people were shot in shootings across New York City Fourth of July night, police said.
- A shooting at a barbecue in Brooklyn left seven people wounded.
- All victims were expected to survive their injuries.
Gunfire rang out amid the booms and bangs of Fourth of July fireworks Monday night, leaving 20 people injured across the city, the NYPD said.
It was the bloodiest Fourth of July the city has seen in years.
There were at least eight shootings in all, with six of them in Brooklyn and another two in the Bronx and Queens. One shooting at a barbecue in Bedford-Stuyvesant alone left seven people with gunshot wounds.
Detectives could be seen scouring for evidence and talking with witnesses amid flashing police lights and falling rain — the hazy backdrop of a violent holiday night.
The shooting started around 9 p.m., when a man was shot near Broadway and Chauncey Street in Bushwick. Police said he walked into Brookdale Hospital with a gunshot wound to his chest. He’s expected to survive. Authorities were looking for five suspects — three men and two women — in the shooting.
Less than an hour later, at 10:15 p.m. in Bushwick, an 18-year-old man was shot near Wilson Avenue and Cooper Street. He was hit multiple times in his torso by bullets fired from a vehicle, police said. He was taken to Brookdale Hospital in stable condition.
At 11:15 p.m., a 22-year-old man was shot as he was walking down Franklin Avenue in Crown Heights, police said. The victim said he heard shots and felt pain. He suffered a gunshot wound to his right leg and was taken to an area hospital in stable condition.
Fifteen minutes after the shooting in Crown Heights, seven people were shot at a barbecue party on Chauncey Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant, according to police, who said a man may have opened fire on a crowd after he was denied entry to the party.
"Everybody was hopping the gate -- kicking each other, scratching each other. Everybody was trying to run for their life," said Justin Johnson, who was at the party and whose friend was among the injured.
"We were having a conversation and he just dropped next to me," Johnson said of his friend. "He was like, 'I got shot, I got shot.' I thought he was playing games until he showed me the bullet wound."
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"After the first couple shots, everybody started running. I got caught in the barbed wire," said Johnson.
Seven people from the party were taken to Brookdale Hospital. Police were investigating the possibility that the barbecue shooting was connected to the shooting at Chauncey Street in Bushwick.
Just after midnight, a man was shot in his leg in the Morrisania section of the Bronx, according to police. He was taken to an area hospital in stable condition.
Around the same time, a woman was shot in her leg in an unknown part of Brooklyn. She walked into Kings County Hospital with a gunshot wound. She was listed in stable condition.
Also around the time of the Morrisania shooting, a man was shot in his leg in Prospect Park South. He was taken to an area hospital and is expected to survive.
At 12:45 a.m. a man was shot at an unknown location in Richmond Hill, Queens. He walked into Jamaica Hospital with a gunshot wound to his right hand. He was listed in stable condition Tuesday morning.
In 2014, six people were shot in New York City on the Fourth of July, according to police. In 2015, six people were shot. This year's 20 marks a drastic spike.
But so far this year, New York City has had 109 fewer shootings than last, or a roughly 20 percent decline, according to NYPD spokesman J. Peter Donald.
"While 21 shootings this 4th of July weekend is too many, historical perspective is important in understanding how remarkably safe New York City has become," Donald said.
