Two days after a mass shooting at a hookah lounge in her Crown Heights neighborhood, Chenille Blue said she’s still too scared to go outside.
She had been at the Taste of the City Lounge just two hours before the shooting early Sunday morning, picking up chicken wings for a friend. By 3:30 a.m., when the gunfire began, she was sitting on her stoop.
“I see people running… my heart’s still beating,” said Blue, who said she’s lived in the neighborhood for 20 years. “I’m saying thank God the person didn’t come out shooting because God forbid I could have got hit.”
Across the neighborhood, residents on Monday said they felt shaken by the shooting that killed three people and injured 11 others. Residents, violence prevention workers and city and state leaders gathered in a show of community strength.
“I pray that this incident will not define this community,” state Attorney General Letitia James said at the rally. “I pray that we recognize that there are too many mothers and grandmothers and fathers and grandfathers who are crying. And we have the power to stop the violence.”
Mayor Eric Adams echoed the sentiment.
“What happened in the Taste of the City is not a reflection of our city,” he told those gathered. “This is a reflection of our city – the people who are here showing support for each other.”
Flowers left near the Taste of the City Lounge Monday.
Ben Feuerherd / Gothamist
Police said they were still searching for two suspects in the shooting, which may have been connected to gang activity. They said they believe four people fired shots at the club, which is near the intersection of Franklin Avenue and Carroll Street.
Police said the three men killed were Brooklyn residents Marvin St. Louis, 19, and Jamel Childs, 35, and Manhattan resident Amadou Diallo, 27.
Adams warned of potential retaliation following the incident.
Shernice Johnson, 32, brought a bouquet to a memorial for victims of the shooting outside the lounge Monday night. She has lived in the neighborhood all of her 32 years and said she was just at the lounge a week ago.
“The community is a good community,” she said. “Tragedy happens at different places, on different occasions, and unfortunately, it had to be my neighborhood. God rest their souls.”
Mayor Adams speaks to police officials before a vigil near the Taste of the City Lounge Monday.
Ben Feuerherd / Gothamist
Layla Vegas, who moved to the neighborhood about two years ago, said even with a police precinct nearby, she’s been on edge since she heard about a different shooting on the block in November.
Police confirmed that someone was shot outside the club and survived on Nov. 17. A suspect in that case has been arrested and charged with attempted murder.
Since then, Vegas said she doesn’t stray far from her front door when she takes her tiny Maltese terrier “Killer” out for walks at night.
“I definitely don’t feel safe, that’s for sure,” Vegas said. “I’ve had my guard up before, but now I really don’t feel safe.”
Balewa Manuel, 69, has lived in the neighborhood for 35 years and said he was “shocked” to come home and see crime scene tape early Sunday.
“When this happens in your community, you say, ‘Damn, over here?’ This is a good neighborhood. I raised my daughter here.”
Samantha Max contributed reporting.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
