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2 people shot in Crown Heights on Wednesday morning
By
Samantha Max
and
Josefa Velásquez
Published May 31, 2023
Modified May 31, 2023
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Josefa Velasquez
By
Samantha Max
and
Josefa Velásquez
Published May 31, 2023
Modified May 31, 2023
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Two people were shot near the Franklin Avenue-Medgar Evers College subway stop in Crown Heights Wednesday, according to police and witnesses at the scene.
An NYPD spokesperson said the shooting occurred at 821 Franklin Avenue, outside the Wise Deli & Grill, at about 9:30 a.m.
Police said a 16-year-old girl was shot in the right leg and a 17-year-old boy was shot in the left arm. They are receiving treatment at Kings County Hospital and are expected to survive.
The department said no arrests have been made at this time. The spokesperson said the NYPD is looking for two male teens who fled.
The scene of the shooting is near a handful of schools, and a Department of Education spokesperson said several are under “shelter-in” orders, including W.E.B. DuBois Academic High School, P.S. 241, Clara Barton High School and the International High School at Prospect Heights, though the shooting was an “off-campus, non-school related incident.”
Dainanna Beresford, 17, a senior at Clara Barton, said the shooting occurred outside the deli where students often get food. She said there was a long line to get into her school building.
Deli worker Adnan Ahmed said the store was bustling with kids when someone started firing a series of gunshots from outside, through the open door. Glass cases filled with candy at the deli counter were shattered with bullet holes.
A shattered candy case at a bodega in Crown Heights following a shooting Wednesday morning
Brittany Kriegstein/Gothamist
Ahmed said everyone ran to the back. Then, he said, he held a girl who was shot and gave her water. He said a boy who was shot often stops by the deli, as do many students at nearby schools.
Cheyann Harrison, 17, another student at Clara Barton, said she was grateful that she was late to school today after sleeping in. Otherwise, she said, she likely would have been in the deli of the shooting when it happened.
“It could have been me,” Harrison said. “Who knows?"
Kayla Mayard, 17, a Clara Barton junior, said gun violence outside her school isn’t uncommon.
“We gotta stop the violence,” she said. “This is not it.”
Clara Barton student Ramayah Haynes, 18, said she’s upset that even younger kids at nearby schools had to experience the lockdown. She said she does not feel safe.
“It’s not funny,” she said. “Somebody could have died today.”
Shooting incidents are down more than 24% compared to this time last year, according to NYPD data. The number of people shot has also decreased by about 24%, while homicides have dropped 11%. The NYPD has reported three fatal shootings in Crown Heights this year.
Brittany Kriegstein and Jessica Gould contributed reporting. This story has been updated with additional information.
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Samantha Max
Samantha reports on whether New Yorkers feel safe and whether the institutions that are supposed to protect them are working. Before coming to WNYC/Gothamist, she spent three years covering the criminal justice system in Tennessee for Nashville Public Radio. Her reporting on Nashville's police department received multiple awards, including the Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize. Samantha was also part of the inaugural class of Report for America, a service journalism program that sends up-and-coming reporters to local newsrooms across the country. She is a Northwestern University grad, a Baltimore native and fluent in Spanish. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal: samanthamaxwnyc.93.
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Josefa Velásquez
Josefa is a former WNYC & Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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