3 Men Shot In Brooklyn Housing Development As NYPD Prepares For 'Summer All Out'
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) --A shooting on a basketball court in Brooklyn late Wednesday coincided with the start of an NYPD initiative to get more patrols out in neighborhoods that need them.
Three men were shot and wounded Wednesday evening in a public housing development in Boerum Hill.
"Just enjoying the day and then pow, pow, pow, pow, pow," Dennis Hugee said.
The shooting happened around 6 p.m., in the Gowanus Houses New York City Housing Authority complex. The bullets rang out at a basketball court on Baltic Street, sources told CBS2.
A 28-year-old man was shot once in the ankle, a 25-year-old man was shot once in the right leg, and a 29-year-old man was shot once in the back, sources said.
They were taken to Kings County Hospital Center, New York Methodist Hospital, and Lutheran Medical Center, sources said. All were expected to survive.
As CBS2's Dave Carlin reported, the man who shot them was still on the loose Wednesday night.
The shooting came amid a major spike in violent crime in certain neighborhoods, and police are about to roll out a plan to drive it back down.
Dozens of NYPD officers who work desk jobs were set to hit the sidewalks for the Summer All Out program which takes 330 officers from inside to out to join foot patrols.
After analyzing violent crime stats, 10 precincts and four public housing sectors were chosen for the programs.
The South Bronx, Central Brooklyn, and other neighborhoods where gangs thrive and violent crime stubbornly hangs and grows, will get a crime fighting boost.
"It's not a bad idea, especially. No, it's not a bad idea in light of this," Carol said.
CBS2 Political Reporter Marcia Kramer spoke exclusively with Mayor Bill de Blasio at City Hall, and demanded answers to criticism about rising violence in precincts that are not included in the program.
"I'm convinced that the precincts they've chosen are the ones where we've had the most sustained problems, not some individual problems," the mayor said.
The mayor also charged that his critics are blowing things out of proportion.
"I think the entire public dialogue has been pulled in the wrong direction and bluntly, I think people are hearing a lot of fear mongering."
The City Council, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, and police unions want the mayor to hire more officers instead of redistributing the ones already on the force.
