Four killed, three injured in Crown Heights mass shooting

October 12, 2019 Meaghan McGoldrick and Kelly Mena

At least four people are dead and three are wounded after an early morning shooting in Crown Heights. Eagle photo by Scott Stein

Updated at 11:05 a.m.

At least four people are dead and another three are injured after an early morning mass shooting inside a Crown Heights social club.

According to police, the gunfire broke out shortly before 7 a.m. inside 74 Utica Ave., a business called Triple A Aces that advertises itself as a “private & social rental space.” When cops arrived, they found four men dead, two men shot in the leg and arm, respectively, and a woman shot in the leg.

The victims ranged in age from 32 to 49.

The three injured were taken to area hospitals in serious condition, police said. As of Saturday morning, there had been no arrests for the shooting.

74 Utica Ave. Eagle photo by Scott Stein

Police recovered two guns at the club, they said at a press conference Saturday morning. Cops said they found cards and dice inside, suggesting attendees were gambling, but no alcohol. At the time of the shooting, there were at least 15 people inside, police said.

The club is two blocks away from the 77th Precinct headquarters, but police said they had never received complaints about gambling there.

“This is a serious crime that requires a serious response,” said Councilmember Robert Cornegy, who represents northern Crown Heights. “Gov. Cuomo and New York State have done a lot to prevent and reduce gun violence, but it is clear there is more work to do at the community level and beyond.”

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“We need new tools to combat the surge in gun violence we are seeing in certain precincts across the city, including the 77th,” Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams said in a statement. “That’s why I’ve called for the city to double funding for Cure Violence programs, especially in areas like Crown Heights and Brownsville.”

Four Killed, Four Wounded in Brooklyn Private Club Shooting @CitizenApp

74 Utica Ave 6:58:02 AM EDT

Shootings are up 42.9 percent in the 77th Precinct as of Oct. 6. There have been 20 incidents so far in 2019, as opposed to 14 by this time in 2018, and nine murders this year compared to one by this time last year.

The NYPD ramped up patrols in the precinct in July, sending dozens of additional police officers to the northern section of Crown Heights and parts of Prospect Heights.

A month after the expansion, four people were shot less than a mile away from Saturday’s shooting, near the corner of Buffalo Avenue and Sterling Place. The gunfire, which began during a candlelight vigil for a neighborhood resident, injured four.

The vigil shooting came a week after a mass shooting at a annual block party in Brownsville left one person dead and 11 others injured.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it until I can’t anymore: we have an epidemic of gun violence that spares no community — and it won’t stop until we get guns off our streets once and for all.

— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) October 12, 2019

The Crown Heights shooting was listed on the Gun Violence Archive’s website Saturday morning as the country’s most recent mass shooting — a term that the database defines as a shooting where four or more are injured, excluding the shooter.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Additional reporting by Ned Berke.