The New York Police Department has released surveillance images of two young men suspected of a shooting that took place outside a Sweet 16 birthday party in Brooklyn, wounding six individuals. Among those injured is the niece of Mayor Eric Adams’ gun violence prevention advisor.
The incident unfolded as partygoers were exiting Burbuja Events on Atlantic Avenue near Ashford Street in Cypress Hills around 1:15 a.m. on Sunday. According to police, the two masked suspects, one of whom was wearing a blue-and-red du-rag beneath his hoodie, began firing into the crowd.
Surveillance footage captured the suspects approaching the venue in heavy rain. The video shows one of them repeatedly adjusting a firearm tucked in his waistband.
A.T. Mitchell-Mann, who was appointed by Mayor Adams in 2022 to lead the city’s anti-gun violence efforts, revealed that his 15-year-old niece was struck while waiting for an Uber outside the venue. The bullet passed through her chest, yet, remarkably, avoided causing any significant harm.
“The doctors have called her a miracle,” Mitchell-Mann shared with the Daily News on Tuesday. “The bullet went through and out without hitting any bones, arteries, or major organs. Thank God.”
The shooting also left a 15-year-old girl with a leg injury, while others injured included a 15-year-old boy who was shot in the left arm, a 16-year-old boy with a wound to the right arm, another 16-year-old who was hit in the left foot, and a 17-year-old boy who sustained a leg injury, according to police reports.
All of the victims were taken to area hospitals and treated for minor wounds, police said.
Mitchell-Mann said that party organizers were popping balloons when the shots were fired. His niece, he said, “thought it was the balloons being popped from inside.”
A motive for the shooting was not immediately disclosed, but NYPD Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch on Sunday said the shooting “appears to be gang related.”
In addition to the bullet that passed through her chest, Mitchell-Mann said his niece was struck in the left knee and in her waist.
One of the suspects was wearing a black hoodie, black pants, black sneakers and a black ski mask. The second was wearing a black hoodie, black pants, black sneakers, a blue face mask and the distinctive du-rag.
Cops are asking the public’s help identifying them and tracking them down.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
