Ingersoll Residents Remember, Mourn Slain Neighbors; Criticize Gun Culture And Lack Of Jobs

It has been less than three days since Herbert Brown, 76, Calvin “LL” Clinkscales, 43, and Lacount “Kojak” Simmons were killed outside their own apartment buildings in a courtyard of the Ingersoll Houses and their family, friends, and neighbors can still hardly believe they are gone.

Brown, in particular, leaves residents alternately in tears and in shock, grieving over his loss and momentarily still believing that he’ll greet them with a smile and a dance.

“He was a grandfather to the neighborhood,” said Queen, a neighbor who described Brown as a man who “liked to have a good time, always had a smile, and was always supporting all these kids.

“He loved music,” she added, crooning “Do Sumthing, Say Sumthing” while swaying in the way Brown often would, turning cliche phrases into a move. “Oh, hip hop, all kinds. He busted steps and kept up with everybody. I’m gonna miss him.”

Similarly, Simmons, aka “Kojak,” was remembered as “a great guy — one of the nicest people you could meet. He would give you the shirt off his back,” by friend and neighbor C-Allah Holmes, who said he had just been chatting with him at 1:30am on September 20 — 17 minutes before police received the 911 call of shots fired.

“He was laughing and joking,” Holmes said, shaking his head. “And LL was a family man, quiet. His whole family was born and raised here.”

Sharing stories, lighting candles, and spending time with one another is filling up many of the moments of Ingersoll residents’ days, helping them cope with the loss and the pain of violence in their own community. But in between the tears of anguish also comes cries of anger and frustration.

“Enough! As long as we continue to not show love for our community, this will continue,” shouted Loretta Swindell to a crowd of elected officials and NYCHA residents, gathered for a press conference the next morning to discuss shooting.

“In my inauguration speech, I talked about a tale of two cities — I was referring to here, with luxury developments on one side and one of the poorest census tracts in New York City on the other,” said Public Advocate Letitia James. “Why are residents of Ingersoll, Whitman, Farragut, and others not receiving services: school services, construction jobs, job training… why do we continue to only come together after violence?”

James, as well as Councilmember Laurie Cumbo, Assemblymember Walter Mosley, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, Comptroller Scott Stringer, and tenant leaders, also criticized a culture of silence and a culture that sees guns as power.

“Too often, men settle disputes by taking out a gun,” said James. “We attend too many funerals. Enough is enough. But it’s also our responsibility. We’ve got to tell, to snitch. Manhood is defined by leadership, not by gun violence. And we also need to take these guns off our streets. Congress is hijacked by special [gun] interests.”

Adams echoed the sentiment, noting that while “crime has dropped substantially, now is the time for us [residents] to go into the crevices of our community — where cops can’t go — to reduce crime.”

Queen agrees. “I hope the neighborhood gets better because we’ve got kids. I’m a grandmother. We want better for our children and this community needs jobs for them, something to do,” she said. “I’m all dried out crying.”