at least two people shot on carlton/dean tonight

Subject: number

My initial impression was at least 20 shots. I actually made my impression known to the bald police officer (among others) blocking off dean street at carlton (with squad car). He was not particularly interested in what I had to say.

Subject: dean/bergen

was wondering why all these f-ed up things keep happening on dean and the 78th precinct is right there!

Subject: Events on Dean, Carlton

October 26, 2005
Teenager Shot by Police After iPod Robbery

By MICHELLE O'DONNELL and WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM
A Brooklyn teenager matching the description of someone who had just committed an armed robbery was in stable condition last night after being shot twice by two police lieutenants, the police said.

The shooting occurred about 7 p.m. on Dean Street near Carlton Avenue, after four men, one of whom brandished what looked like a silver handgun with a black grip, approached a man outside a liquor store at Flatbush and St. Marks Avenues and demanded his iPod, according to a police official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the
investigation was in its earliest stages.

The teenager, who the police identified as Javaughn Higgins, 16, was taken to Kings County Hospital Center with bullet wounds in his left leg and his cheek, the police said. He was shot after displaying what looked like a handgun, the official said. An imitation gun was later found in a flower box at 557 Carlton Avenue, near the shooting scene.

The official said that Mr. Higgins had the iPod and that the victim, who officers took to the scene shortly after the shooting, identified him as one of the robbers.

Charges against Mr. Higgins were pending last night, the police said. A spokesman for the Brooklyn District Attorney's office said that Mr. Higgins was indicted in July on a manslaughter charge in the death of a Bangladeshi immigrant, Mofizur Rahman, who died in May of injuries he suffered in a robbery and beating. Bail had been set at $150,000, said
the spokesman, Jerry Schmetterer.

The victim of last night's robbery reported the theft at the 78th Precinct station house, the police said, and a description of the man with the gun was broadcast over the police radio.

Nearby on Dean Street at Carlton Avenue, the lieutenants, both plainclothes officers assigned to the 77th Precinct, were on patrol in an unmarked vehicle when they heard the description and realized that it matched that of Mr. Higgins, whom they saw walking on Dean Street, the official said.

The lieutenants chased after him. One ran after Mr. Higgins, who was heading eastbound on Dean Street, while the other drove after him and then pulled the car up onto the curb in front of a building at 618 Dean Street to prevent Mr. Higgins from going inside, the police
said.

At some point outside the building, Mr. Higgins displayed what looked like a gun, the official said.

The lieutenant running after Mr. Higgins fired 15 shots. It was not clear last night if Mr. Higgins was struck by any of them.

The lieutenant in the car then ran after Mr. Higgins, who was backtracking and running west on Dean Street. That officer shot at Mr. Higgins seven times before tackling him at Carlton Avenue and Dean Street, the official said.


Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

Subject: Mr. Higgins is a victim of the system!

Mr. Higgins is a victim of circumstances. Socio-economic conditions pressured Mr. Higgins to pursue status symbols such as iPods and cell phones. He didn't intend to stun someone to death! I say sue the stun gun manufacturer for making stun guns that do more than stun and Apple should also be sued for making iPods too expensive for poor people to afford. Cell phone companies need to make less expensive plans for poor people such as Mr. Higgins. All of this would make crime obsolete!

Please join us at the Apple/NYPD protest this weekend @ the 78th precinct! More info to come!