East Flatbush Shooting Nearly Kills Passer-By: Report

Pictured: The intersection of Rutland Road and East 51st Street. Image via Google Maps

EAST FLATBUSH, BROOKLYN — A gunfight on a busy Brooklyn street Sunday afternoon sent stray bullets flying near a local church and left a 19-year-old with three bullet wounds, according to police and reports from the scene.

The gunfire erupted around 1 p.m. near the intersection of Rutland Road and East 51st Street, according to police. A male victim was struck three times on the left side of his body — in the bicep, thigh and ankle — and was taken to Kings County Hospital for treatment, police said.

According to the Daily News, the young man was in stable condition after the shooting.

Police said a witness reported hearing at least 8 gunshots. Detectives were still looking for the shooting suspect, believed to be male, late Monday morning, according to an NYPD spokesperson.

Surveillance footage obtained by PIX11 shows three young men dodging bullets during the firefight near Triumphant Full Gospel Assembly Church. At moments, they can be seen using parked cars as cover.

One bullet pierced the rear windshield of a passing car, according to the Daily News, and only missed the head of the vehicle's 59-year-old driver by a matter of inches.

Patch has not independently confirmed the NYPD's and the Daily News' account of this incident.

The shooting occurred in the 67th police precinct, which encompasses most of East Flatbush and includes parts of Flatbush, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens and Brownsville. According to police statistics, overall crime in the 67th is up more than 12 percent so far this year when compared to the same period in 2015.