A Brooklyn father of four was fatally shot at a Knicks block party just minutes after the team’s landmark win over the weekend, according to police and published reports.
Emanuel Spencer, 44, was found suffering from multiple gunshot wounds near his home on Lincoln Road in Prospect Lefferts Gardens at about 11:40 p.m. Saturday, the NYPD said.
He was taken to a hospital in critical condition and later died from his injuries, authorities said.
“His day was going good,” Spencer’s younger brother told the New York Daily News. “Everybody was just watching the basketball game, relaxing.”
The brother remembered Spencer as a devoted family man with a calm nature and wide-ranging interests. “He was a gentle person. Laid back. Family man. Liked to spend time with his daughters,” he told the newspaper. “He loved everything. He loved sports. He loved music.”
A neighbor told the outlet that jubilant Knicks fans had gathered outside her apartment to celebrate the NBA Finals victory before the scene turned violent.
“I heard probably like two or three [gunshots] and then the crowd running,” she said.
“When I was out there, I heard the fireworks, the gunshots, and I grabbed my child, and I went inside…. There were so many people. I don’t understand what the hell happened.”
Photos at the scene captured crime scene tape around abandoned plastic cups and barbecue grills left from the block party.
Sources told the Daily News that the father of four had several robbery and narcotics arrests, including a most recent March 2024 arrest for reckless endangerment.
Neighbors described Spencer as calm, respectful, and a loved member of the neighborhood.
“What I know is a guy I loved and respected is no longer here,” Burnett Coburn, 68, told the outlet. “That’s painful.”
Rowdy mobs celebrating the Knicks’ NBA title across the Big Apple trashed NYPD cars and torched FIFA buses in Times Square, leaving 10 cops hurt and 63 people in handcuffs.
A 17-year-old boy was also shot in the foot, and four people were stabbed during the overnight mayhem, the NYPD said.
No arrests have been made in connection with the shooting, and an investigation remains ongoing.
