Brooklyn One year Caribbean celebration of the J’Ouvert Carribbean festival, the West Indian American Day Parade, September 2nd, five people were injured in the afternoon shooting incident, two of them in critical condition.
This parade, one of the largest Caribbean cultural celebrations in the city, took place on Eastern Parkway, attracting tens of thousands of people. According to reports from NY1 and the New York Post, the shooting incident occurred around 2:30 pm. A man in his 20s wearing a brown shirt and a black headscarf jumped onto the median strip of Eastern Parkway at 301, firing multiple shots into the crowd, hitting at least five people. Four men were shot in the head, torso, arms, and wrists, while a woman was shot in the shoulder and torso. The wounded were taken to Kings County Hospitals.
Police said two of the injured are in critical condition, while the other three are not in life-threatening condition. The shooting was not random but a deliberate act by a gunman towards a group of people. The shooter is at large, and the reason for the shooting is still unclear. Police stated that many people filmed the parade, and if anyone has footage related to the shooting, please call 1-800-577-TIPS to provide it to the authorities.
This year marks the 57th annual J’Ouvert parade in Brooklyn. The name J’Ouvert is derived from the French “jour ouvert,” meaning “daybreak.” The parade originated from a century-old pre-Lenten celebration initiated by Trinidad immigrants in Manhattan to commemorate the freedom of slaves. In the 1960s, it was moved to Brooklyn and spans nearly 2 miles, from Crown Heights to the Brooklyn Museum, attracting large crowds and political figures every year. Despite the shooting this year, the parade and celebrations continued until late into the night.