Man killed after shots fired during altercation in Washington Heights
WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, Upper Manhattan (WABC) -- A family is in mourning after a brawl in Upper Manhattan turned deadly Sunday night and a man on a scooter was gunned down.
Officials say the shooting happened near the corner of West 185th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue at around 11:45 p.m.
A car pulled up to the 33-year-old victim who was riding a scooter, authorities said. Things escalated once the driver of the car got out of their vehicle.
Officials say the two allegedly got into a fight that escalated into a brawl on the ground. Police have not said whether this stemmed from a prior disagreement.
The passenger of the car pulled out a gun and shot the victim in his torso, authorities said. That suspect got back into the car with the driver and sped off.
The victim, later identified as Christopher Brooks, was pronounced dead at Harlem Hospital.
"He took my boy away from me, he really did," the victim's aunt, Veronica Shannon said. "I will never hear from him again. All I have to do is sit in his room. I sit in his room. It hurts. You know how heavy our heart is?"
Brooks' loved ones say he was a hard worker -- a carpenter who loved painting homes -- and a caring father to his 14-year-old son.
"He loved his son, his son loved him - best friends," said his uncle Thomas Shannon.
Residents in Washington Heights were not so surprised by this latest bout of gun violence in their area.
"There's always something going down in this area. I always feel like I have to watch my back to make sure I'm not in an area that looks 'sus,'" Jerome Gillespie Jr. said.
Police have not determined a motive in this shooting and no arrests have been made.
The shooting was the third deadly shooting in New York city since 5 p.m. Sunday. Two people were killed in the Bronx and Brooklyn on Sunday night as well.
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