Detectives charged a 19-year-old man for his alleged role in the Brooklyn bodega shootout on the Fourth of July that left two men dead and another critically injured.
Police arrested Malachi Kirkland, 19, of Lincoln Avenue on the afternoon of July 5, hours after he was taken into custody near the scene of the shootout, at 1372 Loring Ave. in East New York.
Two Brooklyn men — Sulaiman Odunsa, 21, of Drew Street and Amir Green, 23, of Warwick Street — were killed in the bodega gun battle.
Officers from the 75th Precinct found Odunsa shot in the head, and Green with a bullet wound to his neck. EMS pronounced Odunsa dead at the scene; Green later succumbed to his injuries at Brookdale University Hospital.
A third individual, an 18-year-old man shot in the torso, remains hospitalized in critical but stable condition, authorities said.
According to sources familiar with the investigation, Odunsa and Green were both known to the NYPD and had prior arrests. Crime scene investigators also recovered three firearms, allegedly used in the shootout, inside the establishment.
The motive for the gun battle remains under investigation, police noted.
Kirkland was booked on counts of murder and attempted murder.
