Two Dead, Four Wounded After Drive-By Shooting Outside Brooklyn Church
Six people were shot and two died after gunmen opened fire on mourners leaving a funeral in Brooklyn Monday night, the New York Daily News reports. According to witnesses, as many as 15 shots were fired from a silver SUV into the crowd gathered outside Emmanuel Church of God in East Flatbush.
“It sounded like a war ... boom, boom, boom,” a witness told the paper. “I ran. I went inside my business. After that, the police came.”
Police say the victims are all believed to have attended the funeral of 38-year-old Jose Louis Robles, who died of a heart attack earlier this month. From The New York Times:
Mr. Robles, a father of two who lived in Brooklyn, was known as Cheo. He died on April 16. An obituary included in a flier from the service described him as having overcome “many obstacles” and said that he was 60 credits away from a degree in neuroscience from Manhattan College. Mr. Marroquin, a close friend of Mr. Robles, said in an interview early Tuesday morning that Mr. Robles had served time in prison for murder. “He got married in that church, he changed his life 100 percent. He left the streets. He left the life. Right now, a war started. This is a war.”
A cousin of Mr. Robles’s, who asked to be identified only as Hazel, said she was in shock. “I’m just trying to piece this together,” she said. “He was a very beautiful person. He was 38. He died of natural causes. He fell asleep. It was nothing gang related. That’s why this is very surprising.”
Authorities described one shooter as a Hispanic male in his 20s wearing a Yankees cap and a white T-shirt. As of 10 p.m., no suspects had been arrested.
UPDATE 2:20 a.m.: According to the Daily News, one of the wounded is believed to be a one of the gunmen, injured when a funeral attendee shot back. A police source told the paper that the shooters were rivals of the gang Robles used to be a member of.
[Image via AP Images]