What to Know
- Three young men were shot in a Brooklyn park as it was packed with children last week; one of the men shot later died
- Witnesses say the park in Bushwick had been packed with kids playing soccer when the bullets rang out
- Neighbors say the park had been taken over by rivaling gangs in recent weeks; it's not clear if the man arrested Monday was part of one
An 18-year-old man has been arrested in connection with last week's shooting at a Brooklyn playground that left a young man dead, two others wounded and children who happened to be in the park at the time running for their lives.
Damien Grimes Fuller, of Brooklyn, faces charges of second-degree murder and other crimes in the shooting at Bushwick Playground, near Knickerbocker Avenue and Madison Street, police said Monday.
Bullets began flying in the park after some kind of argument around 6:30 p.m. last Thursday, just as a youth soccer league was practicing on the field, according to witnesses and officials. Hamler Cabrera-De Jesus, 21, was shot in the back; cellphone video showed him being treated on the field where kids had been playing soccer moments earlier. Cabrera-De Jesus died at a hospital.
Two other men, both 20, were shot -- one in the back and elbow and the other in the arm -- but were expected to survive their injuries.
Henry Garcia's family runs the youth soccer league that was practicing there. He said the majority of the kids there were from 5 to 15. None of the children were hurt.
Neighbors say they were concerned about possible violence after rival gangs took over the park in recent weeks.
"They challenge me," said one woman who did not want to be identified. "Because I always walk my dogs, and they telling me, 'This is our park, this is not your park.'"
It wasn't immediately clear if Grimes Fuller had an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
