Crime & Safety

UPDATE: Williamsburg Shooter Kills 57-Year-Old Mike Matusiak, Injures Teen Girl Walking to School

A chaotic shooting Tuesday morning bloodied Knickerbocker Avenue in East Williamsburg near Bushwick.

A 53-year-old man shot dead while trying to stop a trio of men from breaking into parked parks in East Williamsburg early Tuesday morning has been identified as Michael Matusiak, according to various news reports.

“That doesn’t surprise me at all,” a nearby resident told CBS2 of Matusiak’s final attempt to protect his neighbors.

“It’s just Mike,” he said. “Mike was like the neighborhood handy guy. If anybody needed help with anything, they would go to Mike.”

Matusiak was killed — and two others wounded — on Knickerbocker Avenue around 7:50 a.m. by one of three men who had reportedly been trying to break into cars all morning.

“He was a great guy — a friend, everything else. Family,” his childhood buddy, Kevin O’Connor, told CBS2.

Matusiak, an employee at ABNY Mechanical Corporation around the corner on Gratton Street, died at the scene from a gunshot wound to the torso, according to police.

His 57-year-old male co-worker was hit in the left torso, an NYPD said spokesperson told Patch — and a 13-year-old girl was hit in the left hip while walking past.

The young girl was shot on her way to school, according to the New York Daily News.

She and Matusiak’s co-worker were listed in stable condition at Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens on Tuesday morning, police said.

Police describe the suspects — still on the loose as of Wednesday night — as three Hispanic men in their 20s. They were allegedly wearing a gray shirt, a black shirt and a multicolored shirt, respectively.

Surveillance photos of two of the three suspects are included above.

The NYPD is asking anyone with information about the suspects or the shooting to call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS. Tips can also be submitted online or by texting 274637, then entering TIP577.


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