Man Shot Dead Near Herbert Von King Park Was Bed-Stuy Resident: NYPD

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — A man fatally shot last week near Herbert Von King Park has been identified as a Bed-Stuy resident, police said.

Binjeem Russell, 33, was shot in the lower back near the intersection of Greene Avenue and Thompkins Avenue at about 1:30 a.m. on July 20, according to the NYPD. He was transported to Kings County Hospital, where he died on July 21, police said.

Last week, the NYPD said Russell told investigators he had been exercising inside the park when he was approached by a group of men. He told police he had started to walk away when he was shot.

No arrests had been made in the case as of Tuesday morning, police said.

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).

Russell was one of two people shot near Herbert Von King Park in recent days. In a separate incident, a 31-year-old man was shot in the backside on July 17 near the intersection of Lexington Avenue and Marcy Avenue.

The shootings prompted an anti-violence rally in the park on July 21 led by Save Our Streets Brooklyn (S.O.S.), a non-profit focused on intervening in disputes before they turn deadly.

At a recent NYPD press conference, the city announced that the 435 shootings recorded in New York City during the first six months of the year were significantly lower than the 545 recorded during the same period last year — and far lower than in the 1990s.

Herbert Von King Park is patrolled by the NYPD's 79th Precinct, where through July 17, major crimes were collectively down about 6 percent compared to the same time period last year.

A total of 14 shootings in the precinct with 16 victims had been recorded through July 17, compared to 14 shootings with 18 victims during the same period last year.

But those at last week's rally said that gun violence is still an all-too present reality in the lives of locals.

"If you're not moving to save our streets, you're moving to destroy our streets," said David Gaskin, a program manager with S.O.S. who said he grew up in the neighborhood and spent time in jail for gun crimes. "I had to carry a gun to survive. I saw people lose their life to gun violence. I have two sons. I want something different for them than I had growing up."

Pictured at top: the intersection of Greene Avenue and Thompkins Avenue. Image via Google Maps