NYPD: 'Brutal And Brazen' Gang Murder Caught On Video In Brooklyn
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The NYPD says video captured 10 people hunting down and killing a man in Brooklyn earlier this month.
It happened at 5:15 p.m. on March 19 near New Lots Avenue on Cleveland and Elton Streets in East New York.
"You are literally going to see a 21-year-old male fighting for his life running on the streets of Brooklyn being chased by a group of at least 10 thugs. It's tough to watch," said NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea.
The incident began when the victim was walking down New Lots Avenue. When he reaches Cleveland Street, he encounters the group.
Web Extra: NYPD Details Killing Caught On Video
"Totally unprovoked, our victim is punched in his face," said NYPD Chief Mike Kemper.
In the video, the victim can be seen running from the group and hiding behind cars while the group chases him. Some of the suspects were on foot and some were in a car, Kemper said.
"The victim is literally running up and down blocks trying to escape these individuals," Kemper said.
Raw Video: Man Chased Down, Shot Dead In East New York
At one point, the group catches up with him and one of them points a gun at the victim. Police do not believe any shots were fired at that point, and the victim managed to run away.
He ducked into a nearby back yard and hid behind a car for some time while the suspects searched for him. Eventually, the victim gets spotted, and he ran to the back yard of a home. He jumped over a fence and landed on a barbed wire fence below.
The suspects chased after him. One of the suspects can be seen hurling a large rock over the fence at the victim, and another jumps on to the fence and shoots him five times, police say.
"No less than 10 individuals were active participants in this brutal, brutal murder," Kemper said. "This video is very, very hard to watch, and I've been doing this a long time."
"He tries to get into cabs on the street, literally anything to get away. Ultimately he's cornered, like an animal, in the back of a private residence where he's shot multiple times," said Shea said.
Kemper said four of the suspects have been identified, including the gunman and the person who threw the rock. The alleged rock thrower has been arrested and will be charged with murder, Kemper said.
Kemper pleaded for anybody with information to come forward.
Shea compared the murder to the violent killing of Lesandro "Junior" Guzman-Feliz last June.
"This is eerily similar to last June, in the 48th precinct in the Bronx, when Lesandro Guzman was the victim of a mob that was chasing him through the Bronx," Shea said. "But you have gang involvement, and literally hoodlums, with no fear of the law, organized, driving around in cars looking for this individual, and chasing him down and killing him."
The victim in the case also had a criminal record. He was arrested in 2015 for a hate crime for beating a transgender person, and has arrested in 2018 for robbery with a gun, menacing, assault and grand larceny. In February of this year he was arrested for possession of drugs.
Anyone with any information is asked to call NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or 1-888-57-PISTA (74782) for Spanish. You can also submit a tip via the Crime Stoppers website, by Tweeting @NYPDTips or by texting a tip to 274637 (CRIMES) and then entering TIP577.
