Murder Might Have Been Prevented If Neighbors Reported Gun Waving Teen, Police Captain Says

A fatal shooting at the Nostrand Houses last month may have been prevented if neighbors had reported a showboating teen who waved his gun around for weeks before using it in a murder, said the 61st Precinct’s Commanding Officer.

Police arrested 17-year-old Ramon Cooper in late August for a fatal shooting that occurred outside the Nostrand Houses. Cops say they recovered the gun, a .25-caliber semi-automatic, during the arrest. While speaking at a meeting for the Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association tuesday night, Commanding Officer Winston Faison described the arrest to demonstrate why residents should report quality of life issues to the police.

“We were taking the perpetrator to the vehicle. And as I’m walking back to my car, there’s someone on the sidewalk saying: ‘You know what? I knew this was going to happen because he’s been waving his gun around for two weeks already,'” recalled Faison. “So I said: ‘Really? Then why wouldn’t you call us?’ If she would have reported that two weeks earlier, it probably would have prevented a homicide.”

Faison explained the precinct’s resources were already stretched in order to cover an area that includes Sheepshead Bay, Manhattan Beach, Gerritsen Beach, and parts of Gravesend. He said officers rely on the community to be their “eyes and ears.”

“We can’t do it alone. Everyone has to be part of this overall mission to reduce crime,” he said.

Faison said residents could report crimes or quality of life issues by calling 911, phoning the precinct, reaching out to police on social media, or attending the crime prevention and anti-gun programs police hold at the Sheepshead Bay/Nostrand Houses.

During the meeting, members of the Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association pressed Faison about how police would address an increasing number of homeless they observed in their community.

“Over the past year, there’s been an influx of homeless people,” said the group’s president Alan Ditchek. “Do you have any thoughts on how to handle this? It’s warm now but it’s starting to get cold and it’s really unfortunate that these people have no place to go.”

Faison said police had limited options to address vagrancy.

“If there’s a homeless person sitting on a sidewalk, there’s nothing we can do. It’s not illegal to be on a sidewalk,” he said. “When it gets colder, we can force them to go to the hospital because we believe that they could get sick or they could die.”

Faison said his precinct staffed extra officers in troubled areas, such as Sheepshead Bay Road, and partnered with homeless outreach to provide services to people who were sleeping on the street.

Community Board 15 Chairwoman Theresa Scavo also announced during the meeting that the parks department will be resurfacing the basketball courts near Falmouth Street. The project will be discussed during a September 30 meeting, but she cautioned that plans were in the early stages and did not expect work to begin anytime soon.