2 Men Fatally Shot Preparing NYC Memorial For Man Killed a Day Earlier
Three men were shot on First Ave. and E. 112th St. about 8:10 p.m. Saturday.(Jeff Bachner/for New York Daily News)
(IBEXNews) - 2 men were shot dead in East Harlem, and a third critically wounded, as they set up candles for a sidewalk memorial to a murdered friend, witnesses said Sunday.
The trio had gathered to honor shooting victim, Darnell Brown, 23, known to his friends as Pookie and Spazzo, when they were cut down by gunfire on First Ave. and E. 112th St. Saturday.
Video from a nearby bodega shows the tragedy unfold.
One victim, who neighbors identified both by his first name, Fred, and his nickname, Mumbles, drops two candles as he’s shot in the back and falls to the ground.
“I hear gunshots, next thing I know I come out, I see a body right there on the corner," said a witness who declined to give his name. “And two more bodies over there.”
A 41-year-old man died at Metropolitan Hospital, as did a 40-year-old man taken to Harlem Hospital. The third victim, 38, remains in critical condition at Metropolitan Hospital, cops said Sunday.
Another neighbor, who also didn’t give her name, heard the shots from inside her apartment and ducked for cover with her cat.
“I heard a lot of shots and it sounded like fireworks. But I knew it wasn’t because there’s nothing to celebrate right now,” she said.
A victim's sneaker lays on the pavement as NYPD officers and detectives investigate a multiple shooting on First Avenue and East 112th Street.(Jeff Bachner/for New York Daily News)
The victims were part of a small group of mourners who had come to pay their respects to Brown, who police say was felled by a romantic rival just 24 hours earlier.
Brown was with his girlfriend in the River Crossing apartment complex on First Ave. and E. 101st St. when her ex-beau, Sterling Stewart, 30, allegedly shot him just before 8 p.m. Friday. Stewart was arrested for murder the next day.
Shooting victim, who neighbors identified as Fred or his nickname Mumbles, was shot in the back on Saturday.
Neighbors, who said Fred died in Saturday’s attack, remembered him as a peaceful man who loved to exercise, collect sneakers and spread positivity, and had no interest in causing trouble.
“This is his block. We call him the mayor of Harlem,” said Shemeka Sanders, 44. “Everybody knows him. When I’m telling you everybody? Old people, young people. Yesterday the grocery store owners was crying, the discount store owners was crying yesterday.”
Fred was practically an uncle to her eight boys, Sanders said, watching out for her and taking care of her kids.
“My sons, they’re heartbroken, it’s like they lost a brother,” said Sanders. "He was a real angel . . . He bought food for the whole household, came to pick them all up, took them to Applebee’s once a month.”
There have been no arrests in Saturday’s shooting.
