At least five people were shot and wounded along the route of the annual West Indian American Day Parade in Brooklyn on Monday, briefly disrupting — but not derailing — a crowded and colorful celebration of New York City’s Caribbean community.
At least one of the victims was listed in critical condition, with the remaining four expected to recover, the police said.
It was not immediately clear what led to the shooting, which occurred hours into the parade, at around 2:30 p.m., near 307 Eastern Parkway in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn. But at a news conference, John Chell, the chief of patrol of the New York Police Department, described the shooting as a targeted attack. The gunman, whom Mr. Chell described as a man in his 20s, remained at large as of Monday afternoon.
It was another conspicuous episode of violence to occur alongside the event in recent years, but, soon afterward, the parade, an annual celebration of emancipation from enslavement, continued along with its festive music, colorful outfits and decorative floats under brilliant sunshine.
Adrianalee Watson, 15, said she was selling bracelets with her mother on Monday when they heard the gunshots and ran into a nearby building for safety. Ms. Watson said she also heard shots fired at the parade last year. On Monday, after ambulances took the victims away, she returned to her spot on Eastern Parkway and resumed her business.
“It’s a fun experience, even though you do have people who ruin the fun,” she said. “You’ve just got to be safe about it. You’ve got to have a place where you can go if anything bad happens, and you’ve just got to be aware of your surroundings.”
Many attendees seemed unaware of the incident at the crowded event, where revelers in bright colors marched and danced.
J’Ouvert, from the French words “jour ouvert,” meaning daybreak or morning, the early-morning event that precedes the bigger procession. It began at 6 a.m. near Grand Army Plaza and flowed into the parade.
“We have old people, young people, those in the middle of the way,” said Gail Yvette Davis, a 71-year-old attendee. “It’s generally a family kind of thing that happens.”
Once inside the parade, people browsed jewelry, clothing and various delicacies, like sliced mango, Marinos ices and nets of green mamoncillo, a small green fruit. Some residents sat outside their homes and watched as they swayed to the music.
The sounds of steel drums and soca music mingled with the aroma of corn soup, rasta pasta, oxtail and jerk chicken, as people in feathered costumes waved at colorful floats that rolled by.
But the heavy police presence, including drones and helicopters overhead, was a constant reminder of the violence that has marred the event in the past.
In 2015, Carey Gabay, a lawyer for Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was fatally shot when he was caught in a crossfire during J’Ouvert. The following year, two more people were shot dead at the events, and there were other reports of shootings and stabbings at or near the event.
On Friday, Police Department officials said officers would patrol the entire 1.6-mile parade route and issued 300 security wands to check every attendee for concealed weapons at the parade’s entry points, police officials said at a news conference on Friday. Six drone teams were set to be deployed to monitor the crowd and coordinate with other city agencies to curb underage drinking, the officials said.
Jeffrey Maddrey, the chief of department, said crime had fallen significantly since the days when he patrolled J’Ouvert and the parade in the early 2000s.
“I was ripping and running around all night, from scene to scene, shooting to shooting,” Chief Maddrey said at the news conference.
On Monday, police vans followed J’Ouvert attendees closely as they danced to the beat of steel drums on floats along Nostrand Avenue, which was lined with metal barricades and rows of police officers.
Some of the floats promoted local businesses and social causes. The Queer Caribbean Liberation Collective supported the Guyanese transgender community and chanted various demands. “Justice for Caribbean L.G.B.T.Q. people,” they shouted. “None of us are free until we are all free.”
Some J’Ouvert attendees were covered in bright splatters of paint that had dried long before. Others marched and danced, still applying green paint squirted through punctured water bottles and tossing handfuls of colorful powder from plastic sachets.
Some performers wore stilts, elaborate gowns and the feathered costumes that are often associated with the parade. Competing music systems pounded out reggae, soca, calypso and dance hall, while coolers brimmed with mojitos and rum punches along with mauby, a tree-bark based beverage, and juices flavored with sorrel.
Local officials including Attorney General Letitia James marched with the crowd, along with floats representing Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, participated as well. Afterward, he posted on X that he was pained and troubled by the shooting.
“I pray for everyone affected,” he wrote. “We must keep working to end gun violence in America.”
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