West Indian Day Parade gunman still at large, NYPD says

Bahar Ostadan

Published Sep 4, 2024

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Officers stand behind a police barricade.

Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images

Bahar Ostadan

Published Sep 4, 2024

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The gunman who shot and killed a man and injured four others at the West Indian Day Parade on Monday is still at large, NYPD officials said.

Police are requesting the public’s help in finding the man, who they say jumped over a police barricade at Franklin Avenue and Eastern Parkway and shot five people, fatally wounding 25-year-old Denzel Chan. Four other victims ranging from 16 to 69 years old are still recovering from their injuries.

The gunman was targeting Chan, officials said, and the other four victims were hit by stray bullets.

NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey described the chaotic scene at a news conference on Wednesday after he was asked about how the gunman was able to escape amid such a large police presence.

“With hundreds of thousands of people running, how do you even get a clear shot?” he said.

“We weren’t able to make a quick apprehension, but we have the best detectives in the world and they’re going to bring this person to justice,” Maddrey said, adding that he considered shutting down the parade early.

Mayor Eric Adams praised the police department’s planning for the event, which involved hundreds of officers scanning attendees with security wands and monitoring surveillance drones.

Crown Heights and Flatbush have experienced violent Labor Day weekends in recent years, including a series of stabbings and a fatal shooting after last year’s parade. Five people were also shot in 2020 — including a 6-year-old boy and his mother. Officials on Wednesday noted that gun violence in Brooklyn this summer dropped to the lowest levels ever recorded.

Police officials said gun violence is nowhere near where it was historically. About a decade ago, police logged 14 weekend shootings with 24 victims in the area surrounding the J’Ouvert and Carnival festivities, according to NYPD Chief of Crime Control Strategies Michael LiPetri.

There were four shootings with eight victims this year.

Officials said they confiscated 13 guns in the surrounding area after Monday's shooting.

Top City Hall and NYPD officials spoke this week about their personal connections to the West Indian Day Parade. NYPD First Deputy Commissioner Tania Kinsella said she has attended the parade since she was a child. Maddrey said he has worked the event every year since 1998.

“I’m a proud West Indian,” Kinsella said.

“I walked on J’Ouvert night, and I was proud to see people out there not being afraid. Young kids, babies, grandmothers, aunties from everywhere felt safe … to be out there until 3, 4, 5 o’clock in the morning," she said. "To me, that’s a win.”

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