NYPD brass defended Wednesday their response to Monday’s mass shooting that wounded four and killed one at Brooklyn’s West Indian American Day Parade, along with the decision to let the festivities play out despite the loss of life.
Top brass, during a One Police Plaza press conference on Sept. 4, charged that the Labor Day weekend was a safe one when compared to the notoriously bloody history of the holiday, even though a mass shooting rocked the parade route on Sept. 2.
Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey, in particular, went on the defensive, telling reporters that he had attended every parade since the late 1990s and that despite the deadly shooting at this year’s festivities, it was still less violent than previous years.
“Historically, this event was smeared by violence that occurred over the weekend at J’Ouvert and during the parade, but history also shows that the NYPD and the community have drastically reduced violence at this event,” Maddrey said.
Police believe the shooting was gang-related and a deliberate act, in which a man in his 20s hopped over the steel police barricades with the intention of gunning down a particular target. In the fuselage of gunfire, he also hit several bystanders in the process.
The victims of Monday’s bloodbath range in age from teenagers to seniors after a gunman opened fire into a crowd of spectators around 2:35 p.m. on Sept. 2 at 307 Eastern Pkwy. in Crown Heights as the parade proceeded through the area.
One of the victims, 25-year-old Denzel Chan of Spring, TX, was struck in the abdomen and succumbed to his injuries just before midnight at Kings County Hospital.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtery said the gunman was able to slip away amidst the large crowd as responding cops tended to the wounded.
“They (the officers) looked back and saw the victims laying on the floor. They made the decision to go back and help those victims out first,” Daughtery said.
Despite the mass shooting, police officials chose not to stop the parade — leaving colorfully dancers striding down the roadway even as investigators placed numbered markers on the ground showcasing discarded bullet casings.
“It crossed my mind to shut the parade down, to end it early. It did cross my mind,” Chief Maddrey said. “People were concerned, but people still wanted to celebrate their heritage.”
Members of the media critiqued the tone of the press conference, asking officials to speak about what they felt like they did right instead of focusing on the murder that slipped through the cracks, with journalists going as far as to call the security procedures a failure. Chief of Patrol John Chell took umbrage with the notion that NYPD failed.
“Our cops were running toward the danger, not looking to fail as you put it. As human beings we were upset about what happened, as professionals we were upset because we want our plan to be flawless and we have set a high mark for this parade,” Chief Chell said. “We certainly didn’t fail.”
Police also stated that they attempted to preemptively halt any violence over the weekend by confiscating some 31 firearms and making 35 arrests from Thursday through Monday, even going as far as to give an example of the arrest of an 18-year-old man, identified as Cesar Green, armed with a gun at the parade.
“Cesar Green shouldn’t even be walking the streets of New York City. He has two prior open gun open gun [cases,]” Chief of Crime Control Strategies Michael Lipetri said, adding the second open gun case resulted in Green being released on bail in Brooklyn.
