By: AP
Five people, including a 6-year-old boy, were shot in an area where people had gathered for an overnight celebration known as J’Ouvert in New York early Monday, police said.
News outlets reported the shooting happened at an intersection in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood as people were out in the area for the festivities. But it’s unclear whether the shooting had any relationship to J’Ouvert, which is meant as a celebration of freedom from slavery.
The boy was shot in the leg, police said. A 47-year-old woman and three men, ranging in age from 34 to 45, also suffered gunshot wounds in their legs and feet.
All five were taken to a hospital with injuries not considered to be life threatening.
Two men were arrested and two guns were recovered, New York City Police Chief Terence Monahan tweeted. He also called the shooting “senseless” and asked anyone with information to contact police.
J’Ouvert and the West Indian American Day Parade that were held on Monday were scheduled to be virtual this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, but it appeared some people still gathered in person.
In other developments around the New York City area, a couple was taken from a New York City ferry in handcuffs after refusing the captain’s order to wear masks and holding up the ferry’s departure for more than an hour while they stood defiantly on the top deck.
Officers were called to the pier in Brooklyn Bridge Park around 10 p.m. Saturday when a ferry captain reported disorderly people, police said. The captain told officers the 53-year-old man and 37-year-old woman refused to get off the boat when they were told to leave for not wearing masks.
The news site Gothamist reports that the pair claimed they have a constitutional right to ride mask-free because they have a medical condition that exempts them from the governor’s coronavirus protection order. They declined to provide evidence of their medical condition to an officer.
As other ferry riders grew impatient with the delay, officers gave the pair a last chance to voluntarily leave before taking out the handcuffs and ticketing the couple for disorderly conduct and violating an emergency order.
(AP)
