Man Shot In Eye On Mermaid Avenue

Man Shot In Eye On Mermaid Avenue
The deli at Mermaid Avenue and West 24th Street, where the man was shot. (Source: Google Maps)
The deli at Mermaid Avenue and West 24th Street, where the man was shot. (Source: Google Maps)

A man was shot in the eye in Coney Island yesterday around noon, leaving him in critical condition.

The 23-year-old victim was shot once, striking him in the eye in the broad daylight attack on Mermaid Avenue and West 24th Street, in front of a bodega, News 12 reports.

He was taken to Coney Island Hospital, where he is in critical condition.

Witnesses told the outlet that the gunman fired off three shots. The shooter is described as a man wearing a white shirt and blue pants, according to News 12.

It’s the fourth violent attack reported in the neighborhood in less than two weeks. On Monday, a man was shot to death in the early morning hours outside of Kaiser Park on Bayview Avenue. Last Thursday a man pulled a knife on a cop and slashed him twice before the officer shot him to death. And on June 14, two men were caught in a hail of gunfire near the Gravesend Houses on Neptune Avenue and West 33rd Street.

Prior to those incidents, there were seven shootings in the 60th Precinct in 2015, involving eight victims. That’s up from five shootings and six victims at this time last year.

Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline at 800-577-TIPS. The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) and then entering TIP577. All calls are kept confidential.