Gunman Opens Fire, Striking Two, At Coney Island Housing Project

Rachel Silberstein -
The shooting occurred across the street from the Gravesend Houses on 2753 West 33rd Street. (Source: Google Maps)

Two men were struck — one of them a senior citizen — in a shooting that neighbors described as “an ongoing drug war” near a Coney Island housing housing project Sunday.

The New York Daily News reports:

Donald Irizarry, 68, and William Whitfield, 18, were standing on W. 33rd St. near Neptune Ave. at the Gravesend Houses when a gunman started blasting around 3 p.m., police sources said.
“I heard about 20 shots and went to look from my terrace when I saw an old man lying on the steps … Looking like he got shot in the parking lot (and) then ran, but he didn’t make it very far,” said resident James Whitaker, 33.

Whitfield was hit in the buttocks and Irizarry was hit in the leg, according to the NYPD. Both victims were taken to Lutheran Hospital and are in stable condition.

Residents of the nearby housing project were shaken by the shooting, reports the Daily News.

“I don’t care about the beach, the water, the sun no more. I gotta get out of here,” one woman told the outlet.

The Coney Island Anti-Violence Collaborative will hold a community rally to take a stand against the bloodshed tonight at 6:30pm, at Key Food, located 3485 Neptune Avenue, near West 36th Street.