NEW YORK CITY—Five people were shot at the annual West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn on the afternoon of Sept. 1, according to authorities.
At about 2:45 p.m., a male shooter opened fire into the crowd on the parade route at 301 Eastern Parkway in the borough’s Crown Heights neighborhood, according to the New York Police Department (NYPD).
Four males and one female were shot. Two are critically injured, police said.
The police said the shooting was an intentional act by one man, aimed at the parade attendees.
“This was not random; this was an intentional act,” NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said, adding that it was too early to speak of motive.
The annual parade, which runs from Crown Heights to an area on the outskirts of Prospect Heights where the Brooklyn Museum stands, is one of the world’s largest celebrations of Caribbean culture, drawing tourists, locals, and people from other New York City neighborhoods. In advance of the parade, the New York Police Department had promised a heavy presence in anticipation of a repeat of the violence that marred the festivities in 2016 and 2015.
In 2016, two paradegoers died violently, and in 2015, Carey Gabay, an aide to then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, suffered a gunshot wound and died nine days later.
The violence came without warning in the midst of a sunny, 80-degree afternoon with thousands of people in attendance. Until it erupted, people were strolling casually through the streets singly or in groups, many of them wearing flags or T-shirts with images of the flags of Haiti, Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad, St. Lucia, Guyana, and other Caribbean and South American states.
Until the outbreak of violence, paradegoers commented on a festive spirit and a sense of unity among the various nationalities and cultures present.
“People are far more united today, I would say—very much so. Today’s a change. I think they are very conscious of their culture, they wear their pride on their heads,” a 22-year-old man from Brooklyn, who gave his name as Al, told The Epoch Times.
A 61-year-old Jamaican man named Steve said he had come to the outskirts of the parade looking to meet friends for lunch, but traffic was so heavy that the taxi could not take him anywhere near his destination.
Still, he saw the parade as a highly positive event.
“It’s a holiday, it’s a joyful day for the people,” he said.
Laniece Lyew and Tiffany Williams, the proprietors of a coffee shop near the parade route, said they had kept their business closed during last year’s parade but kept it open this year to share the community spirit.
A woman named Chikeena who said she had moved from Trinidad to Brooklyn described the event as one that overall reflected and promoted love among the different cultures present.
