Police said Monday they were looking for two suspects in the mass shooting at a hookah lounge in Crown Heights that killed three men and injured 11 other people early Sunday, and had yet to announce any arrests in the case.
NYPD officials said they believed four people fired shots at Taste of the City Lounge at Franklin Avenue and Carroll Street around 3:30 a.m. Sunday in what they described as a possible gang-related shooting. Mayor Eric Adams warned of potential retaliation following the incident and said the city was deploying crisis management teams to stem any further violence.
The three men killed were Brooklyn residents Marvin St. Louis, 19, and Jamel Childs, 35, and Manhattan resident Amadou Diallo, 27, according to police.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a press conference Monday that Childs and St. Louis fired shots during the exchange of gunfire. Police recovered 42 shells from inside and outside of the club, she added.
Childs had several prior arrests and was listed in the NYPD’s gang database as a member of Folk Nation, a violent gang responsible for a half-dozen shootings in the city this year, Tisch said. Three other victims are also members of the gang, she added. St. Louis has “no relevant criminal history,” Tisch said.
Police were working to identify two additional suspects who remain at large, the commissioner said.
According to video surveillance, Childs and St. Louis spoke briefly in the club before the shooting, Tisch said. St. Louis approached Childs soon after and opened fire, sparking the shootout, she added.
The 11 people wounded in the shooting were listed in stable condition, the NYPD said. Officials said those who were shot ranged in age from 19 to 61 years old.
Police tape blocked off the lounge Monday as detectives investigated the scene. Camara Jackson, CEO of Elite Learners, a community development organization that provides violence prevention services, said shootings have decreased in the area, but Sunday’s incident was “traumatic” for community members.
“When you have a mass shooting like this, and something of this magnitude, it takes us back to why we’re doing this work,” she said.
Adams asked members of the public to help find the perpetrators, saying at a news conference Sunday, “If you were inside the club, if you heard individuals talking about the shooting, if you witnessed someone fleeing the location, every piece of information would allow us to put the puzzle together to solve this crime.”
In a statement posted to its Instagram page Sunday, Taste of the City Lounge said it was cooperating with law enforcement on the investigation into the shooting and expressed condolences for those who were killed and injured.
Officials stressed shootings are down in the city so far this year compared to the same point in 2024, with NYPD data showing a 21% drop as of Aug. 10. Homicides have declined about 24%, per the data.
“This was like a warzone,” said James Jones, a neighbor of the lounge who said he was there before the shooting and returned after it happened.
In November, another shooting injured at least one person at the same intersection, according to police.
This story has been updated with additional information.
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