Shooting of gay Brooklyn resident raises question of hate crime statute
A man was fatally wounded after being shot in the face early Saturday morning as he walked with a companion in Greenwich Village. This shooting is now being investigated as a hate crime by the NYPD.
Mark Carson, 32, a Brooklyn resident, was walking through the Village when suspected shooter Elliot Morales approached him and his friend. Police say Morales followed Carson and a companion through the Village, asking if they “want to die here,” Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.
Police said Morales then yelled anti-gay slurs before shooting Carson point-blank in the face with a .38 caliber silver revolver, according to the charges. Morales was soon arrested a few blocks away.