Eight people were shot late Saturday on a Coney Island block, four of them boys ages 6 to 14 and one a 21-year-old woman left in critical condition, the New York Police Department said, closing New York's July 4 holiday with a mass shooting in the Brooklyn beachfront neighborhood.
The gunfire erupted at about 10:37 p.m. on West 31st Street. Police recovered a firearm at the scene but had made no arrests by early Sunday and were still working to identify persons of interest.
The scene
Officers responded to a 911 call reporting multiple people shot at 2929 West 31st St. and found eight victims suffering from gunshot wounds, the department said. All eight were transported to nearby hospitals. Their ages ranged from 6 to 37. July 4 marked the opening of the country's 250th-anniversary weekend, which the eastern United States spent under a heat wave that had already scrambled parades and rail service across the Northeast on Friday.
The wounded
Seven of the eight are in stable condition. The 21-year-old woman was shot in the chest and remained in critical condition. A 6-year-old boy was shot in the stomach, a 7-year-old boy in both legs, a 12-year-old boy in the leg and a 14-year-old boy in the thigh, according to the NYPD.
The investigation
Investigators were still working to identify persons of interest by early Sunday and had not disclosed a motive or a suspect description. No account had yet identified the shooter's target, whether the victims were part of a single group or a crowd hit indiscriminately, or where on the block the gunfire began.
What is absent
Both accounts of the shooting available by early Sunday came from national broadcasters CBS News and NBC News, each relaying NYPD statements attributed to the department rather than to a named spokesperson. No on-scene witness accounts, community reactions or statements from elected officials had been reported by press time. A political response, from the mayor's office, the governor or federal officials, had not yet followed.
The 21-year-old woman remained in critical condition as detectives continued to look for suspects. The NYPD said the investigation is ongoing.