Community On Edge After Two Weekend Tragedies

Residents say they are shaken up by two tragic incidents that occurred near neighborhood parks over a span of 24 hours.

Daquan Spencer, 31, was fatally shot at 1:30am Sunday morning while attending a party inside Scarangella Park at Avenue V and Stillwell Avenue, according to police. The suspected fled scene in a black colored vehicle and Spencer was taken to Coney Island hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Neighbor Joseph Comperchio told us he was unnerved by the Scarangalla Park crime scene, where the entire basketball court was roped off, and detectives were seen scouring for evidence Sunday, he said.

“The shooting over the weekend in the Brooklyn park was needless violence. A celebration of a young boy’s birthday, it was suppose to be peaceful. Instead a young man is shot dead,” said Comperchio.An NYPD investigation determined that the gunman walked up to the Spencer and shot him in the head, then continued shooting while the victim was lying on the ground, according to police sources.The playground, which includes a baseball field and basketball courts, was marked for a $3.5 million makeover as part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Community Parks Initiative last year. Youth tournaments are frequently held there.Later, at 5pm Sunday afternoon, cops responded to a 911 call from an apartment at Bay Parkway and Cropsey Avenue — near Bensonhurst Park — from a woman who discovered her unresponsive 34-year-old boyfriend with puncture wounds to the neck and scratches on his face and arm, according to the NYPD.An investigation found that the scratches were superficial and were likely not the cause of death, police sources said. The boyfriend’s identity is being withheld pending family notification.Our thoughts are with the family and friends of both victims. We will keep you posted on these incidents as we learn more.