Police seek two suspects in shooting death of boy, 15

FLATBUSH/MIDWOOD – Police are seeking two suspects in the slaying of a 15-year-old boy who they believe may not have been the target of those bullets as he stood in the hallway of his second-floor home on Flatbush Avenue Friday night.

Samuel Joseph was shot in the face, neck, and chest on the landing of an apartment building on Flatbush Avenue near East 26th Street in Flatbush at around 5:45 p.m. Friday, say police.

Police from the 70th Precinct found Joseph sprawled on the floor of the second-floor landing. Firefighters from the Rogers Avenue stationhouse immediately started CPR as they waited for an ambulance with family crying and screaming around them. He was rushed to Kings County Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Police believe the attackers mistook Joseph for his older brother who may have been the target. The motive was still unclear.

Joseph told his family that he was going out for something to eat when he was shot. The family had moved from Haiti only five years before.

Police issued video and pictures of two of Samuel’s killers. Both are described as black and between 18 and 25 years old. One wore red Adidas sweatpants with white stripes.

The shooting left his family crying, his inconsolable mother wailing outside their apartment, doubled over in agony and supported by one of her sons and family members. His brother Don Joseph called for justice for his brother.

Supporters who stopped by the family’s home Saturday included public advocate candidate Tony Herbert and later Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, who said there has been an uptick in shootings this year.

Below is the video NYPD released of the suspects in the shooting: