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Man Shot at Dawn in Sunset Park
By Jorge Casuso
Nov. 12 -- A 24-year-old man was in serious condition Monday after
being shot several times in the torso early Sunday morning near 23rd and
Pearl streets in the Sunset Park Neighborhood, police said.
The incident occurred at 5:18 a.m. when the suspect's gray van pulled
up alongside the vehicle the victim was driving northbound on 23rd Street,
said Lt. Frank Fabrega, the police department spokesman.
"There was an exchange of words between the victim and passenger
in the suspect's vehicle," Fabrega said. "The passenger in the
suspect's vehicle began firing numerous shots at the victim from an unknown
type of weapon."
The victim was shot several times in the upper torso, Fabrega said.
Awakened neighbors, who came out of their homes in their night clothes,
reported hearing between 30 and 40 shots. Mayor Pro Tem Richard Bloom,
whose bedroom faces 23rd street, said he was awakened by the shots and
rushed to the window.
"You could see flashes in the street directly behind our house,"
Bloom said. "I waited it out. This didn't last more than a minute
or so. This was extraordinarily loud. It woke up everyone. It was a frightening
experience."
Bloom said the shots sounded "like automatic weapon fire,"
but noted that he is not an expert in firearms.
When police arrived at the scene, they found the victim laying on the
ground next to his vehicle. Police could not confirm neighbors' reports
that the man had driven himself home, but Fabrega said that the victim
"was close to his home when he was shot."
The victim was transported to a local hospital, where he was in serious
condition Monday morning.
The suspects were identified as two male Hispanics with shaved heads.
Police said the victim was not a gang member, but they have not ruled
out that the incident may have been gang-related.
"We're looking into all possibilities at this time," Fabrega
said.
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