2 Wounded In Flatbush Amidst String of July 4th Shootings [Updated with Councilmember Response]

Last night, gunmen wounded two people in Flatbush during a string of July 4th shootings that mixed the crackling of fireworks with the firing of bullets, leaving 20 victims injured across the city, say police.

At 5:15pm on East 29th street near Beverley Road (not far from the 2/5 subway station), a 24-year-old man reportedly heard a gunshot and then felt a sharp pain, according to police reports. He was admitted to Kings County Hospital, where a graze wound was discovered in his back. The bullet penetrated his skin but didn’t sink into his body, according to cops.

Then, at 1am Tuesday morning July 5th, another 24-year-old man was shot in the leg outside of 20 St. Paul’s Court, between Ocean Avenue and St. Paul’s Place, according to police reports. The victim was taken to Kings County Hospital and is expected to recover from his injury. Both shooters have not yet been found, and a police investigation is ongoing.

These two incidents are part of a tear of July 4th shootings in New York City that left 20 victims wounded, according to the Daily News, including seven people at backyard barbecue in Bed-Stuy; a 20-year-old man shot in the chest five times near Bushwick; and an 20-year-old man shot in the head in Harlem. Incredibly, all of these victims are reportedly in stable conditions, according to the Daily News.

Police have confirmed that July 4th shootings are up this year, with NYPD reports showing a total of 14 shootings between July 4th and early July 5th 2016, compared to 10 shootings from the same time period last year.

[Update at 6pm] Responding to the high number of shootings on Independence Day, Council Member Jumaane D. Williams, who is also leader of the Council’s Task Force to Combat Gun Violence, said:

“Holiday and summer weekends are meant to be a time of leisure and fun, not of violence and fear. As temperatures rise, so do tempers and incidents of gun violence. We cannot become complacent. We have to respond to every shooting with the same horror as the one before. We all, advocates, community partners and elected officials, must remain committed, beyond words, to fight this alarming epidemic of gun violence in our streets.”