Violence amid revelry at NY West Indian Day Parade

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Violence amid revelry at NY West Indian Day Parade

By KAREN ZRAICK - Associated Press,VERENA DOBNIK - Associated Press | AP – 10

hrs ago.

NEW YORK (AP) — A shooting on a street corner a few blocks off the route of the

annual West Indian Day Parade, scarred by violence at least twice in the last

several years, left two police officers wounded and three people dead, Mayor

Bloomberg said.

An officer was hit Monday night by bullet fragments in his left arm and chest

and was hospitalized but was expected to survive. Another officer was grazed by

a bullet.

At least three other people were hit in the shooting, which started after the

parade as an exchange between two armed men, police said. Officers who had been

assigned to parade duties arrived at the scene, were fired upon and returned

fire, police said. Both gunmen were killed, as was a bystander, they said.

The bystander, 56-year-old Gay, was killed by a gunman's bullet while

sitting on a stoop two doors down, with her daughter next to her, said

Bloomberg, who called her death " a senseless murder " and blamed it on the

scourge of illegal guns.

" It is a matter of life and death, " he said, " and in this case the death was an

innocent New Yorker. "

He said the gunman who killed Gay had an extensive criminal history.

Witnesses said the shooting went on for at least 30 seconds. Area resident

Kaminsky said it sounded like machine-gun fire outside his building.

The gunshots rang out in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn after the

parade, which was marred by fatal shootings in 2003 and 2005. Post-parade

parties are common, but police wouldn't say if the fatal shooting was related to

them.

Earlier Monday, revelers had filled the streets in colorful costumes during the

parade, but gun violence shocked the festivities to a stop in spots. Police said

four people were shot and wounded during the parade along its route and a

15-year-old boy was grazed by a bullet nearby.

Police helicopters hovered overhead Monday during the parade, and officers on

scooters and on foot patrolled the surrounding blocks.

The upcoming 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks plus a spate of

holiday weekend violence have put the city " on heightened alert, " police

Commissioner said before the parade stepped off.

" We're doing a lot of things both seen and unseen, " the commissioner said.

During the parade, a City Council member was detained after getting into a

confrontation with police.

Councilman Jumaane , of Brooklyn, said he was put in handcuffs by

officers after marching along the parade's parkway route. He called his

detention " an easily avoidable incident. "

had been given permission by a police official to walk along a

blocked-off street but was then stopped by other officers, his spokesman Stefan

Ringel said. He was held for about 30 minutes before being released, and no

charges were filed.

was with an aide for Public Advocate Bill de Blasio. The aide, Kirsten

Foy, also was handcuffed and detained, said.

A video of their detention, distributed by the public advocate's office, shows

Foy being thrown to the ground as he was taken into custody along the parade

route.

Police said and Foy were stopped from entering a frozen zone near the

Brooklyn Museum, where a crowd formed and someone punched a police captain. They

said and Foy, who were handcuffed, were taken across the street and

detained until their identities were established and then were released.

They said the police commissioner met with and Foy and ordered an

investigation into the matter.

Bloodshed over the weekend included a Sunday shooting in the Bronx in which

eight people, including children, were wounded. Four other people were shot, one

fatally, in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn early Monday.

said some of the shootings were associated with the West Indian Day

festivities.

" ly, " he said, " this is something that does happen at this parade. "

Bloomberg said the problem is " too many guns on the streets of this city. "

He said New York has some of the toughest gun laws in the country, " but because

it's so easy to buy guns in other states and just drive them in and sell them in

the back of your car ... we've got to do something about it. This just can't go

on. "

Before the violence Monday, the parade thundered down a Brooklyn thoroughfare

with its usual colorful, musical energy.

The annual Labor Day parade celebrates the culture of the Caribbean islands and

is one of the city's largest outdoor events. Modeled on traditional Carnival

festivities, it features dancers wearing enormous feathered costumes, music and

plenty of food.

" This parade is fabulous! " said Arnold Caballero, who was manning a huge

barbecue on a sidewalk. " There are people of all countries, and you meet friends

you haven't seen for years. "

The 52-year-old Trinidad native estimated that by day's end he would sell about

500 pounds (225 kilograms) of jerk and curry chicken, beef and pork from the

stand he's run for a decade with two friends.

Caballero's friend Agnes Cherryl , a 55-year-old native of Grenada,

added: " This is the most excellent parade you can ever have, with music and

loved ones who come from all over America, from Miami to Canada. "

High-spirited spectators behind police barricades joined in with impromptu

dancing as music pounded from massive loudspeakers aboard floats rumbling

through the Crown Heights neighborhood, which also is home to the world

headquarters of the Lubavitch Orthodox Jewish community.

Some sat on their porches watching people waving the bright flags of their

native islands and enjoying Caribbean delicacies sold by vendors whose barbecues

released delicious-smelling smoke into the late summer air.

Gov. Cuomo stopped by a pre-parade breakfast before heading to upstate

communities where residents are still cleaning up from Tropical Storm Irene.

" Thank you for sharing your culture, your language, your music, your food, your

diversity, " he told organizers.

The governor said he would take buckets of jerk chicken to Irene victims.