Violent Sunday: Police determining whether 2 Coney Island shootings are connected

ByCeFaan Kim WABC logo
Sunday, June 5, 2016
4 people shot on Coney Island street corner
CeFaan Kim has more from Coney Island.

CONEY ISLAND, Brooklyn (WABC) -- It was a violent Sunday in Coney Island, where there were two shootings several hours apart. Police still do not know if they are connected.

On Mermaid Avenue and West 16th Street, two cars got their windows shot out.

Investigators spent a significant amount of time poring through a grey SUV with North Carolina plates. The shooting took place around 2:40 Sunday. Half a block down, there is a second crime scene. Under a car, police recovered a handgun.

Police say it was around 4:30 a.m. when an innocent bystander was shot in the back after seeing a man and a woman get into an argument. That 38-year-old is expected to survive.

Police do not know which shooting the handgun under the car is from.

In the afternoon, four men were shot. A 26-year-old man was shot in the shoulder and a 31-year-old man was shot in the right hand. They were both rushed to Lutheran Hospital where they are in stable condition. A 21-year-old man was shot in the right thigh, and another 21-year-old man was shot in his right hand. Both 21-year-olds are at Coney Island Hospital.

Residents who live in the area are concerned, because it is not something they see every day.

"I saw maybe like five 'boom boom boom boom' - I'm thinking about 'let's get out of here - run'," said Sandy DeJesus, "Me and my son ran to the living room and closed all the windows. We just ran - my son and I just ran to the living room, we just hid. They're running all over here, you know."

The shooting took place right underneath an NYPD surveillance camera. Police are currently looking at surveillance video to get more clues.

Three people are currently in custody, but no arrests have been made.