Police reported that two young men were shot Sunday evening shortly after a Brooklyn Puerto Rican Day Parade concluded.
A 19-year-old was hit in the left arm, while a 20-year-old was shot in the back during an altercation on 45th Street near 5th Avenue in Sunset Park just after 7 p.m., according to the police.
Video footage from News 12 captured a shooter dressed in black firing shots while pursuing a man in red pants down 45th Street. The man in red was seen falling behind a parked car.
The police have not yet established a connection between the shooting and the Sunset Park Puerto Rican Day Parade & Festival, which began at 5 p.m. at 59th Street and 5th Avenue and concluded near 43rd Street. A bystander’s video showed medics and police on the scene, with the area cordoned off, just steps away from numerous lingering parade attendees.
Both victims were transported to NYU Langone Brooklyn Medical Center, where they were reported to be in stable condition. The cause of the dispute remains unclear.
Earlier that day, further north in the borough, Brooklyn-native Knicks point guard Jose Alvarado kicked off his NBA Finals victory tour at the separate Knickerbocker Avenue Puerto Rican Day Parade in Bushwick, alongside Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
“Thank you guys so much, it means the world to me. Really,” Alvarado expressed as he stood on a float during the neighborhood’s eighth annual parade. “I’m a kid from Brooklyn. And the Knicks party f–kin’ did it.”
This jubilant moment came just hours after the Knicks secured their first NBA title in 53 years in Game 5 against the San Antonio Spurs on Texas soil.
A total of 63 people were detained Saturday night into Sunday morning as unruly crowds among the thousands of elated fans in New York City took their post-victory celebrations too far.
The disturbances included a 17-year-old boy being shot in the left foot at around 2 a.m. Sunday in the center of Times Square at 42nd Street and Broadway. This incident coincided with hooligans vandalizing and setting fire to school buses in the tourist area, police said.
Two teenagers have been arrested in relation to that shooting spree, though neither is the shooter, according to police.
Carmelo Rodriguez, 18, faces charges of criminal possession of a weapon and possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device. Additionally, a 17-year-old boy has been charged with criminal possession of a firearm and criminal possession of a weapon in a restricted area, authorities said.
