Police on Sterling between Franklin Bedford

http://gothamist.com/map/

hmmm. Gothamist usually maps the location of such incidents, but not always.

As a result, I am hesitant to assume that your post is connected to this incident:

Shooting | Level 1 Mobilization Has Been called. Brooklyn, NY | 3/12/2011 8:56 p.m.

Shooting | Pd Looking For A B/m Perp Who Fled On foot. Unknown Condition Of The aided. Brooklyn, NY | 3/12/2011 9:03 p.m.

...because I have only the time and the borough to connect it; there is no cross streets.

Anyone?

so true, and not only that, what I just posted in a quick attempt to be helpful actually happened YESTERDAY 3/12 (HOMER SIMPSON DOH!).

.....Today seems to be 3/13.

How about this equally cheery post?

Shooting | The Aided Has A Gsw To The Chest And Is In Traumatic arrest. Ems Is Transporting To Kings County hospital. Brooklyn, NY | 3/13/2011 8:12 p.m.

KCMC is one of the closest ER's to us, and -when one adds the time it takes to get someone into an ambulance- the time of the incident is about right, in addition to -ahem- the date.

The time is closer to the time you mention catching the bus...

So, tonight we seem to have had our first shooting in Crown Heights in over 30 days. As per the above reports, a man seems to have been killed; the newspapers and 1010 WINS usually confirms such incidents within a few hours.

As they always do, SOS Crown Heights' Violence Interrupters will soon meet with those immediately affected by the crime in an attempt to prevent retaliatory shootings and to start the grieving process.

The public will be invited to attend a shooting response. See you at the soon-to-be-scheduled shooting response?

SOS is based on a similar program in Chicago:

It seems we don't need to wait until tomorrow for coverage...

The online newspaper the "Prospect Heights Patch" has photos and coverage:

http://prospectheights.patch.com/articles/man-shot-to-death-on-sterling-place

Man Shot to Death on Sterling Place

A 30-year-old man died at Kings County Medical Center tonight after he was shot twice in the chest on Sterling Place between Franklin and Bedford avenues.

By Amy Sara Clark

A 30-year-old man died at Kings County Medical Center tonight after he was shot twice in the chest on Sterling Place between Franklin and Bedford avenues, according to police.

The man was shot inside 709 Sterling Place, just before 7:49 p.m. tonight, according to an NYPD spokesman.

Two "unknown" men fled on foot, according to the police.

Danny Tong, who was working at Kings Wok, when the shooting took place, said he believed there were a total of three shots.

"I heard 'bam, bam, bam,'" he said.

The victim was taken to Kings County Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival, according to police.

About an hour after shooting, the intersection of Sterling Place and Bedford Avenue was still blocked to traffic. An officer and a detective guarded the door of the three-story brick apartment building where the shooting took place.

A pair of detectives were canvassing door-to-door, looking for witnesses.

additional updates on this shooting (plus if you refer back to the original link there are many more comments)

http://prospectheights.patch.com/articles/police-captain-reveals-more-details-on-sterling-street-shooting-urges-witnesses-to-come-forward

Police Captain Reveals More Details on Sterling Place Shooting, Urges Witnesses To Come Forward

Says the police need the help of the public to solve the crime.

By Amy Sara Clark | March 14, 2011

Police Capt. Elvio Capocci made a plea for witnesses to come forward in the murder of a 20-year-old man on Sterling Place Sunday night.

He made the plea at a meeting of the 77th Precinct Community Council tonight.

"It was a 20-year-old kid. From what I understand he was a good kid. I hear he was in church yesterday," Capocci said.

So far police have not been able to find a single witnesses who will speak to them, Capocci said.

There has not even been a single annonymous tip, he added.

Police have not released the name of the victim yet.

"All good police work usually starts with a tip. We're waiting for that tip and hopefully we'll get it," he said.

The 20-year-old man was shot in the lobby of the 709 Sterling Place, a three-story apartment building, Capocci said. He did not live in that building, Capocci said.

"The shooters were outside, the poor kid was inside. It (the shots) might have gone through the door," he said.

"We don't know exactly what happened just yet," he added.

The man was pronounced dead at Kings County Medical Center soon after.

"It was a busy street busy part of the neighborhood," Capocci said. But when police arrive at a scene, people scatter, and no one's seen a thing, he said.

People who might have information on the case should call the 77th Precinct at (718) 735-0611.

What a tragedy! More info on the young victim. Taken from Patch:

The family of 20-year-old Joseph Battle, who was shot on Sterling Place Sunday will remember him as a gentle, loving musician who was dedicated to his church and always there for those that needed him.

“Everyone loved him,” said his grandmother, Catherine Isaacs.

He was minister of music at New Paradise Church, on Fulton near Grand, where he directed the choir and never missed a Sunday, Isaacs said.

And the quiet young man who wanted to be a rapper and was studying to be a recording engineer at Touro College’s DMX program was always available to lend a hand, whether it was cleaning out the refrigerator for his grandmother or helping his friends with recording projects.

“He helps, he helps, he helps, he helps,” said his father, Joseph Wilson.

Although Joseph was quiet, from a young age he was an emotional rock to his family, his father said.

When Joseph was 4 years old, his parents split up.

“One day I was crying and he touched my hand and he said ‘we’ll be all right,’” Wilson said. “He always had that love in him. He always said, you can get better,” he added.

Wilson and Joseph moved in with Wilson’s girlfriend, Pamela Rivers, and the family lived together in Harlem until Joseph was 16.

“He was the joy of my life,” said Rivers, who remembers him as being a “beautiful” and “helpful” child who brightened people’s days with his “gorgeous smile.”

“He would just always know when something was wrong and he would make you laugh. And he would sing and he would just climb all over you and give you love and affection,” she added.

Joseph moved to live with his grandmother on Sterling Place between Classon and Franklin when he was 16 after some neighborhood kids broke his arm, his father said.

“He’s one of those fragile kids," his father said, adding that his general attitude was "I’ll fight you if I have to but I really don’t want to."

"He’s never been arrested, not even for a small thing like jumping a turnstile,” he added.

Police still have no suspects in the murder, which took either just outside or just inside the lobby of 709 Sterling Place, just before 7:49 p.m., according to an NYPD spokesman.

So while the police hope that witnesses will come forward, the family continues to learn about the quiet young man who loved them all more than even they realized.

Last week, Joseph's father found poetry books in his room. He also discovered that his son had kept certificates and other keepsakes recording his father’s accomplishments.

And they discovered the young man had gotten a tattoo.

“He loved my mother so much that he had her name tattooed on his chest," he said.

"My mother never knew,” he said.

The funeral will take place Saturday, March 19, at Barrett Funeral Services, 427 Ralph Ave. (at Bergen Street) with a viewing from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and the service from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The slugs made a number of holes in the door at 709. Looks like the killers fired through it. I wonder if the landlord is going to patch them up? I'd find it disconcerting if I lived there.

I'm curious about the motive here. There's nothing evidently sordid about the dead man's past.

It's a nice, friendly street. I'm on the other side of Franklin, past the shuttle tracks. We have a mix of old-timers and newcomers, and everyone gets along just fine.

The family we bought the house from had been here in some form since 1910, though most of them moved out in '69 when the neighborhood was going through some rough times. Seems to me that things are definitely on an upswing lately.

709 Sterling got a new door. Looks much better, I almost didn't recognize the building. Steel and glass, and no more bullet holes.