The annual West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn, a celebration of Caribbean music and culture, was once again mired in violence. A government staffer was shot in the head and is in critical condition while a 24-year-old man was fatally stabbed.
Reports the DNA Info New York:
A 24-year-old man was fatally stabbed in the torso and another man was shot at Eastern Parkway and Plaza Street East just after 2 a.m., according to police.
The stabbing victim was hurt in the torso and taken to New York Methodist Hospital where he was pronounced dead, officials said.
The other victim, a 21-year-old man, was shot in the buttock and was also taken to Methodist Hospital where he is listed in stable condition.
No arrests had been made in connection with the incident later Monday morning, police said.
At roughly 3:30 a.m. a man was shot in the finger at Bedford Avenue and Empire Boulevard.
An individual was arrested in connection with the shooting and a firearm was recovered, according to an NYPD spokesman. No further details were available.
Unfortunately, these weren’t the most damning incidents of the day. A lawyer on New York Governor Mario Cuomo’s staff was shot in the head, an innocent bystander of a shooting during the J’Ouvert kick off festivities of the early morning.
Reports the Associated Press:
Cuomo identified his wounded staffer as Carey Gabay, a first deputy general counsel at the Empire State Development Corporation. Gabay was walking with his brother near the Brooklyn parade route at 3:40 a.m. when he was caught in the crossfire between two gangs, according to police officials.
The pair had been walking back from a pre-parade party celebrating West Indian Day.
A bullet struck Gabay, 43, in the head. Cuomo said Gabay is a Harvard-educated lawyer who had worked as an assistant counsel to the governor.
“I’m the governor of the state of New York, and there’s not a thing I can do,” Cuomo told reporters after he visited Gabay’s family at Kings County Hospital. “There’s not a thing I can say, and there’s nothing I can do. And sometimes it just hurts.”
Gabay’s condition remained critical on Monday night following surgery, according to a governor spokeswoman.
We gotta do better. After tragedies like these, what argument is there to be made when the powers that be say no more Jouvert or West Indian Day Parade?
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Photo: AP Photo
