Bed-Stuy Father Shot Dead Outside Brevoort Houses: NYPD

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — A Bed-Stuy father was fatally shot early Saturday morning outside the Brevoort Houses, just blocks from where he lived, according to police and media reports.

Charles Byrd, 26, was shot multiple times in the torso outside 340 Bainbridge St., according to the NYPD. The shooting took place at about 1:20 a.m. on July 30.

Byrd was taken to Interfaith Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said. No arrests had been made as of Monday morning, and an investigation into the shooting was ongoing.

According to the New York Daily News, Byrd was on his way to pick up his three-year-old daughter from her mother's house when he was shot.

"That was my only son," Byrd's mother Calendra told the paper. "It doesn't make no sense. He doesn't live here no more. He doesn't hang around here no more."

The mother of Byrd's daughter described him as "a tall, gentle giant. If you needed help, he would help you.”

According to the paper, Byrd had prior arrests, and was connected to an assault on July 2 — possibly connected to his death. But those who knew him said that despite past problems, he was now focused on his family and held a job at NYCHA.

“From the time that baby was born he loved that girl very much," Calendra, Byrd's mother, told the New York Post. "He impressed me. He loved the hell out of his daughter."

Anyone with information on this shooting can confidentially report it via the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers website or by anonymously calling the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).

Los hispanohablantes pueden llamar 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

Tips can also be text-messaged to the NYPD by texting 274637 (CRIMES), then entering TIP577.

Byrd was killed in the NYPD's 81st Precinct, which covers the eastern half of Bed-Stuy. According to official police statistics, through July 24, major crimes in the 81st were collectively down about 10.5 percent compared to the same time period last year.

However, shootings were up. There were 24 recorded shootings with 35 victims through July 24, police said, compared to 17 shootings with 18 victims last year.

Anti-gun violence group Save Our Streets Brooklyn has been out in force in Bed-Stuy. On July 20, the organization lead a march through Herbert Von King Park, near the scene of two July shootings, one of which was fatal.

Pictured at top: outside 340 Bainbridge St. Image via Google Maps