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No arrests a month after 10 teens were shot outside a Queens nightclub
By
Charles Lane
Published Feb 3, 2025
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Photo by Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images
By
Charles Lane
Published Feb 3, 2025
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A month after four gunmen opened fire outside a Queens nightclub, injuring 10 teens, police have made no arrests, leaving clubgoers and community members on edge.
The Jan. 1 mass shooting at the Amazura Concert Hall in Jamaica was the latest of several violent incidents at the venue. There was a shooting in January 2024 that injured one person outside the club, and another that injured two people inside the club in April. Police said they began screening events and stationing officers outside of the club after the April incident, but those measures failed the night of the Jan. 1 shooting.
Clubgoers and community members say the recurring shootings and the lack of arrests make them uneasy.
“With the history that Amazura has, I feel like there should have been multiple cops there in preparation for stuff like this,” said Jamere Bruno, who was at Amazura on New Year’s Day when the shooting occurred. “I wish there was, but there wasn't one cop there.”
An NYPD spokesperson did not respond to multiple requests for comment, however police officials speaking at a community meeting last month said that security protocols meant to prevent this type of violence failed on New Year's Day.
Amazura’s owners did not return multiple calls and messages seeking comment.
The shooting happened at a posthumous birthday celebration held for Taearion Mungo, 16, who was shot and killed near his home in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, last year, according to police. Investigators said Mungo's shooting and the Amazura shooting were related to a gang feud linked to as many as seven separate shootings in northern Brooklyn.
According to NYPD officials, four gunmen fired approximately 30 rounds in 15 seconds as people were waiting to enter the club on Jan. 1, then fled in a car with a New Jersey license plate. Police said all the victims are recovering, but declined to identify them.
Police say the other two shootings that occurred at Amazura last year are unrelated to the one on New Year's Day. Two people were shot in a dispute inside the club in April, police said, and no arrests have been made. There was a shooting in January 2024 outside the club, police said, but neither Queens prosecutors nor police would provide details or say if anyone has been arrested.
On New Year's Day, Bruno said he was in his car waiting to get inside Amazura when gunfire erupted and he saw people on the ground.
“I heard people screaming,” he said in a phone interview. “People didn’t get up, people just didn’t get up and people were screaming.”
Bruno, who is also an emergency medical technician, began providing first aid to the victims until ambulances arrived. He said it took approximately five minutes for police to arrive and 10 minutes for on-duty medical workers to arrive.
Deputy Inspector Ralph Clement said at a recent community meeting that police and city officials met with club owners and agreed to install strict security protocols for the club in the April shooting's aftermath. He said police were supposed to be notified before events, including about who would be performing. He said they were not notified about the event for Mungo.
Amazura and police agreed to make sure NYPD officers were stationed outside the club for certain events to quell any potential violence, according to Clement and a club employee.
“ That's where the system failed,” he said.
At the community meeting, Assistant Chief Kevin Williams, commander of the Queens Patrol Bureau South, said Mungo’s family booked Amazura after they were turned away from several venues in Brooklyn.
Daniel Hanam, a promoter who said he has worked for Amazura since 2005, said the venue regularly screens artists for potential gang ties. Hanam said the organizers for Mungo’s party booked online and didn’t tell Amazura he died in a shooting, giving the club no reason to inform police.
“Initially when they called to book the venue,” Hanam said, “the information they gave was that the guy died from natural causes so we had no need to further investigate.”
At the community meeting, Williams said that if Amazura had provided all the information about the event, “we would have told them it’s probably not in their best interest to hold that party.”
At the community meeting, Clement said that the mayor’s office and NYPD met with Amazura’s owners after the New Year’s Day shooting and gave the club another chance to follow security protocols — this time with the threat of sanctions. Amazura must now give the NYPD a calendar of all its upcoming events a month in advance, or else police would involve other agencies and possibly issue summonses.
According to the city, sanctions might include joint liquor inspections with the state, fire code violations with FDNY or health code violations with the health department.
The Jan. 1 shooting happened about a year after the city eased its enforcement on nightlife. Instead of conducting surprise inspections on nightclubs while they were open, which officials described as disruptive, the city sought to foster relationships between the venues and the precincts.
After the April shooting at Amazura, officials with the city’s department of Small Business Services, which regulates nightclubs, met with Amazura’s owners and required them to provide the police with a list of events in advance. Despite the New Year's Day shooting, Joseph Jourdan, a spokesperson for the city’s department of Small Business Services, said the new approach is working.
“The fact that this venue avoided serious incident for six months due to the recommendations,” he said, “is a testament to the power of constructive, collaborative relationships between nightlife and city government.”
Hanam said the club has since instituted rigorous security measures that include as many as 30 security guards. He called Amazura safe and said most of the past shootings happened outside the club. He questioned why Amazura should be responsible for something that happens outside.
“It was a repass [a wake] and it was family members and friends, the club didn't need to involve the police because this wasn't a party,” he said.
Community Board 12's District Manager Yvonne Reddick said she and others are alarmed that there still have not been any arrests in any of Amazura’s recent shootings.
“We’re all concerned,” she said. “This is in a residential area, we’re talking about safety here.”
Two people injured in the New Year’s Day shooting contacted by Gothamist declined to be interviewed, citing the trauma of the incident. Bruno, the off-duty EMT at Amazura that night, said he is still shaken by the shooting and glad he was there because it took so long for other medics to arrive.
“What if I wasn't there? Somebody most definitely would've died. I could say that confidently. People were pretty banged up outside,” he said. “A gunshot wound is not to be played with, especially when you have multiple.”
Tagged
queens
public safety
Charles Lane
Charles is a Day-of reporter focused on breaking news and enterprise. He’s very friendly and can be reached at [email protected], or more securely on whatsapp/signal 631-295-6715
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