Atlantic Ave. shooting late Sat. night

tommyboy

(I posted this on the Prospect Heights Forum as well since it's on the border... )

Anyone have information on a shooting last night, Sunday @ 4:00 AM (late Saturday night) near Atlantic Ave. and Washington Ave.?
I couldn't see but heard 4 or 5 shots and seconds later another few shots and shouts. About 10 seconds later one lone shot was heard. Men and women were shouting and sounding upset. Immediately cops showed up and minutes later an Ambulance. This morning I called the 77th and 88th Police Precincts as well as 1 Police Plaza but no info was provided.

Lots of shootings around here. What's going on?

bklynnewbie

So there are really a lot of shooting saround Fulton & Washington? Curious as I looked at an apt today over there.

boygabriel

I caution you against getting your crime statistics from an anonymous website.

anonymous

Sorry to tell you but that specific area has lots of problems.

Just two weeks ago around 2am Sunday morning I was passing through that intersection and witnessed a huge brawl in the middle of the street that stopped traffic. Many of the people involved (male teenagers and adults their 20's) were wearing red hats and bandannas. I saw more than one of them lift up their shirts as if to get a gun our of their waistband, but we saw no guns and they may have been bluffing. We did not stay to find out.

There is and has been for many years a certain gang presence in this specific area. They claim to be bloods, but I don't know how close is their actual affiliation with the national organization if there really is such a thing.

The Brooklyn paper reported another similar incident a couple blocks away at Vanderbilt and Atlantic in December last year. This one was definitely gang related:

http://brooklynpaper.com/stories/30/50/30_50gooddeed.html

Finally, last summer my neighbor was beat up in front of the project at Vanderbilt and Atlantic. He and his girlfriend were skateboarding home through the area when he accidentally passed too close to a woman on the sidewalk. It was purely accidental, but a guy who was with her took offense and decided to get violent. A stranger even came out of the project and offered to hold the guy's jewelry so he could pummel my neighbor better. My neighbor got a nasty black eye and other injuries. He is a really sweet guy and didn't deserve it.

Most of the neighborhood is relatively safe if you are careful, but I try to avoid the area between Fulton and Atlantic east of Vanderbilt. This seems to be the area with most of the problems, and I don't feel as safe there, especially not at night. I hope the police do something to get rid of the crime and the community comes together to get rid of the gang.

My recommendation before buying a place, no matter where it is, is to do your research. Don't just visit the neighborhood during the day -- come back at night, and early in the morning, on both a weekday and on the weekend. I learned my lesson about this once myself: the character of the neighborhood late at night may surprise you.