33-Year-old Man Killed In Dyker Heights Shooting

DYKER HEIGHTS – A 33-year-old man was shot and killed in his vehicle early Saturday evening.

On Saturday, September 12 at around 5:20 p.m., Arfan Butt, a Bensonhurst resident, was found with gunshot wounds to the torso on 78th Street near 12th Avenue. He had been shot three times and was taken to Maimonides Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Butt had been in the driver’s seat of his BMW with two passengers who got out of the vehicle and started firing at him, the Daily News reported. The suspects hopped inside a Mercedes-Benz, which had driven up at the scene, and left.

This shooting comes just a week after 62-year-old Michael Scully was shot and killed as he was walking his dog on 74th Street near Seventh Avenue in the 68th Precinct.

“Our neighborhood had another shooting this afternoon. This time on 78th & 12th Avenue in Dyker Heights. I am sickened, outraged, and dismayed,” Council Member Justin Brannan said. “The violent crimes we’ve seen over the past few days have not been random (including the incident today) but it doesn’t matter if the people involved knew each other or not. A crime is a crime and none of this is acceptable. Not to me, not to you, not to anyone who calls our community home.”

“Our local cops are still out there doing great work and the detectives are still out there making swift arrests but I have asked for increased patrols in Bay Ridge & Dyker Heights immediately and I am meeting with Police Commissioner Shea next week because this cannot continue,” Brannan continued. “Gun violence in our community is unheard of and that’s how it must stay. I will do everything in my power to make sure our community remains a place where everyone can feel safe and respected.”