New photos released in separate Crown Heights fatal stabbings

BROOKLYN, N.Y. (WABC) -- Two stabbings just one block apart in Brooklyn claimed the lives of a pair of teenagers Wednesday night.

The teens actually may have known each other, but there is no immediate connection between the incidents.

The first incident happened just before 7 p.m. inside a sneaker store on Utica Avenue in Crown Heights.

Police say 18-year-old Jamal Joseph, walking with his girlfriend and three other friends, bumped into another teen on the street outside the store. A verbal dispute escalated into a physical one, and authorities say the other teen broke free and ran into the store. Joseph reportedly followed him inside, found him and put him in a headlock. The other teen then pulled a knife and stabbed Joseph multiple times in the neck, back, shoulder, torso and leg.

He was pronounced dead at Kings County Hospital.

The suspect fled the scene, and police are still searching for him.

Hours later, 17-year-old John Garrett was stabbed in the chest one block away, on Eastern Parkway, just after 11:30 p.m.

He was also rushed to Kings County Hospital, where he later died. He was apparently uncooperative with detectives before his death, and no arrests have been made.

Detectives are looking into a possible friendship between the teen victims, but at this point, there has been no connection made between the stabbings.