Downtown

One man shot outside of Barclays Center; police search for perp

June 14, 2017 By Paul Frangipane Special to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Police blocked off traffic on Fort Greene Place from Atlantic Avenue to Hanson Place, investigating the shooting. Eagle photos by Paul Frangipane
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A 50-year-old man was shot in front of Barclays Center on Atlantic Avenue Wednesday, leaving a bloody shoe in front of Victoria’s Secret as the alleged shooter ran off, officials said.

At 2:12 p.m. the victim was walking west on Atlantic Avenue when an unidentified man fired several rounds. One bullet struck the man in his left ankle. The shooter then fled east on Atlantic and north on Fort Greene Place, where police closed off the block and searched for nearly two hours, officials said.

“We do believe there was definitely a dispute between the shooter and an unidentified individual or individuals,” NYPD Deputy Chief Vincent DiDonato said at a press conference.

The victim is in stable condition at Methodist Hospital, DiDonato said.

A witness described the scene to the Brooklyn Eagle.

“I was ducking like everybody else,” Pamela Williams, 66, said.

Williams told the Eagle, the man fell to the ground after the shot and screamed, “Oh my God, I was shot!”

All around him, bystanders screamed and ducked for cover, she said.

The shooting occurred just hours after a gunman, distraught over President Donald Trump’s presidency, opened fire at Republican members of the Congressional baseball team in Alexandria, Virginia. Steve Scalise, the majority whip of the House of Representatives, was gravely wounded and three other people received gunshot wounds.

DiDonato said the investigation is in its “infancy stages.”

He described the shooter as a 5-foot-8 black man, who was wearing a blue baseball hat, black T-shirt, blue Adidas sweatpants with three stripes on them and white sneakers.

Police said that the dispute likely started near the Barclays Center subway station and moved across the street in front of the mall.

There was a shell casing found on the street near Fort Greene Place, but DiDonato said he did not know yet if it was related to Wednesday’s shooting.

Mohammed Talulder, a food stand owner, told the Eagle, “I heard shots and then my customers ducked down.”

Other bystanders said the shooter ran into the Atlantic Terminal Mall parking lot.

Police cars blocked Fort Greene Place from Atlantic Avenue to Hanson Place, in front of the lot, until they left the area around 4 p.m.

The investigation left people stranded inside the mall, waiting to pick up their cars. Shopper Judith Bellamy argued with police officers about her parking fee.

“Why should we pay for it?” she said. “You locked it down, why should I pay for the extra time?”

An employee at Atlantic Terminal Mall declined to comment.

The police are only looking for one individual shooter at this time.

“Thank God that we only have one individual, in light of what’s happened today in our country,” DiDonato said. “Thank God we only had one individual hit … it could have been a lot worse.”

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