Man In Custody After Mysterious Shooting

EAST FLATBUSH — A 29-year-old man was shot in the chest on Wednesday, but only minutes later, police found the victim trying to buy a beer in an East Flatbush bodega with a minor chest wound, police said.

The police were flabbergasted that the victim, identified at this time as Tony Brown of St. Marks Place, was shot somewhere on East New York Avenue, only to be found two blocks away in the E&F Deli and Grocery at 572 Albany Avenue trying to buy a malt liquor. Even more curious was that police from the 71st Precinct found the bullet sitting on the ground in front of a local Fish & Chips restaurant nearby on Albany Avenue.Brown was taken to Kings County Hospital in stable condition. Police are charging him at this time with possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment.Police spokeswoman Detective Annette Shelton said that while he is being charged in the shooting, it is still under investigation because it is possible that the shooting occurred differently from his story.The shooting occurred just before 3 p.m. in the vicinity of East New York Avenue and Albany Avenue. Police scoured the scene on Albany, with one witness stating he saw Brown stumbling down Albany when the copper-jacketed bullet dropped from his chest in front of 529 Albany Avenue in front of the fish and chips restaurant.

Rocky Durhan who said he was working for his friend in the deli, spotted Brown in the back of the store trying to buy a beer, his shirt stained with blood.“He went to the back of the store and went to buy some beer, he had blood stained on his shirt and was like nothing happened,” Durhan said. “The cops came in and wanted to get him medical help and he didn’t want it. Then he tells them that he had shot himself. You just can’t make this stuff up.”Police at the scene were looking at video of Brown passing by the restaurant but did not see anyone else in the video. Apparently, the shooting is believed to have occurred on East New York Avenue. Police were seeking video and witnesses as to whether Brown’s wounds were self-inflicted or caused by someone else.

The real question is how did he shoot himself in the chest, and then the bullet fell out onto the ground? Police said they could not answer that at this time pending forensic evidence.“This guy must be Superman to get shot in the chest and still be walking around,” one witness at the scene said. “He was just walking by and the bullet fell out onto the ground. How does that happen?”