Brooklyn DA Announces Charges Against Nine Alleged Gang Members
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- As part of a crackdown on gang violence in Brooklyn, the district attorney has announced charges against suspected gang members accused in several shootings.
Some of the shootings were captured on surveillance video, one of them was deadly.
There were fourteen people shot in ten incidents, three of which were caught on camera. The Brooklyn District Attorney's Office said the nine men responsible were Loot gang members, and many of the crimes involved the same weapon.
"A 357 revolver. These gang members loved this gun so much that they had their own affectionate name for it. They called that gun 'Becky.'
On Tuesday, acting DA Eric Gonzalez showed reporters video from several of the shootings.
The first one occurred in February 2016. A man dressed in all black ran into a restaurant on Atlantic Avenue in Jamaica, Queens and started firing shots at a rival gang member.
Gonzalez said the rival grabbed an innocent bystander and used her as a human shield.
"Truly appalling, but what you also see is that the shooter didn't stop shooting. He shot his intended target five times. The innocent woman on the video was also shot three times. Luckily both survived," Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said the shooter was Dylan Cruz.
Then, in July of 2016, there were gunshots on Chauncey Street in Brooklyn.
"Seven people were shot in this drive by shooting including three women. Innocent bystanders, had nothing to do with the underlying dispute between the Loot Gang and TBO Gang," Gonzalez said.
According to Gonzalez, one of the shooters was Maurice Ellis, the getaway driver was Quincy Vital.
A month later there was a murder. The acting DA said a 22-year-old John Jay College Student left a party in Bushwick to buy an iced tea. That's when he was shot outside a bodega near Wilson Avenue and Covert Street.
The DA said the victim was killed because he was wearing red shorts -- a rival gang color. He was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"He was a son, he was a twin brother, and he was friends to many people. In a painful irony, Terrell Henry wanted to be a police officer," Gonzalez said.
The only man still on the run is Earl Gilbert. They said he was involved in the July shooting.
Despite the crime spree, the DA's office said Brooklyn is down 30 percent in shooting victims, and 20 percent in homicides.
