New York City Mayor Eric Adams and the Brooklyn-based West Indian American Day Carnival Association (WIADCA), organizer of the gigantic Carnival Parade on Brooklyn’s Eastern Parkway, have strongly condemned the shooting at the extravaganza on Labor Day Monday.
“The West Indian American Day Parade is a joyous event that celebrates the multitude of culture and diversity in our city. But instead of allowing all to enjoy a momentous occasion for our city, a gunman turned today’s celebration into tragedy when he senselessly fired into the crowd, hitting multiple revelers,” said Adams and WIADCA New President Roger Archibald, an attorney, in a joint statement Monday night.
“The NYPD is investigating this incident, and we are grateful for the brave men and women who quickly responded and helped to ensure New Yorkers could continue to be safe while celebrating,” they added.
“While we are keeping the victims and their families in our prayers, as they fight to recover, we know we must do more to combat gun violence and ensure the safety of every New Yorker and visitor,” Adams and Archibald continued.
On Tuesday, the New York Police Department (NYPD) said that one man has died after an unidentified gunman opened fire on spectators almost at the end of the 57th Annual West Indian American Day Carnival Parade on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn.
The NYPD said at least five people were shot and wounded at Classon Avenue and Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
The NYPD said 25-year-old Denzel Chan, of Texas, died at Kings County Hospital in the heart of the Caribbean community in Brooklyn after being shot in the stomach by the assailant, who remains at large.
NYPD Chief of Patrol, John Chell said four men and one woman, whose ages range from 16 to 69, were wounded when the gunman fired multiple shots at paradegoers.
“This was one person intentionally going after a group of people who tried to ruin the day for everybody,” Chell said. “This was not random; this was an intentional act.”
He said the suspected gunman apparently stood on the concrete divider on Eastern Parkway and fired multiple shots into the crowd of nearby spectators.
The NYPD identified the other victims, listed as in stable condition, only as a 69-year-old woman who was shot in the back right shoulder; a 64-year-old man who was shot in the right arm; a 36-year-old man who was shot in the head; and a 16-year-old male who was shot in the left arm.
The NYPD said the gunman, believed to be in his 20s, fled the scene on foot.
United States House of Representatives Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who represents Crown Heights, a section of his 8th Congressional District that encompasses parts of Brooklyn and Queens, said he was “saddened and horrified” by the shooting.
“My prayers are with the victims and their families during this difficult time,” said Jeffries, who spoke earlier on Monday at the Pre-Parade Breakfast. “The parade is a beautiful display of culture and community that I have been honored to attend over the years, including this year. Every American should be able to celebrate their heritage without the threat of gun violence.
“No one in Brooklyn, New York or America is safe until we get weapons of war off our streets,” he added. “America cannot be the best version of herself until we crush the scourge of gun violence once and for all.”
US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, who also participated in the parade, said he was also saddened by the shooting.
“I pray for everyone affected,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “We must keep working to end gun violence in America.”
Many paradegoers and masqueraders were totally unaware of the shooting that temporarily disrupted a part of the gigantic celebration in fine weather, with high in the low 80s.
In picture-perfect weather, millions of spectators and thousands of masqueraders and revelers on Monday converged on Brooklyn’s Eastern Parkway for the gigantic spectacle.
The New York Caribbean Carnival Week, which started on Thursday, culminated on Monday, Labor Day, a public holiday in the United States, with the grand parade of masqueraders, with large and small costumes, displaying the culture of the Caribbean, along a 3 ½-mile route on Eastern Parkway, a major thoroughfare, starting at Buffalo Avenue and ending at Grand Army Plaza and Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn.
WIADCA said over three million spectators, largely behind police barricades, were expected to view and celebrate 57 years of Caribbean culture, cuisine, programs, contribution, mas, steel band music and much more.
