Crown Heights Man Killed in Borough Park While Helping Homeless

BOROUGH PARK, BROOKLYN — A 36-year-old Crown Heights man who worked helping homeless New Yorkers was shot dead in Borough Park this week, according to the NYPD and news reports.

Following a 911 call, NYPD officers found Henry Nashan shortly after noon on Aug. 29 at the intersection of 46th Street and New Utrecht Avenue. He had been shot multiple times in the torso, according to police.

Nashan was taken to Maimonides Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

ABC News reported that Nashan worked for Win, Inc. a non-profit run by former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn that focuses on the needs of homeless woman and children in New York City.

According to ABC, Nashan was sitting in a car waiting for a client when a red Nissan SUV approached. An individual in the Nissan fired at Nashan multiple times, after which the car sped off.

"Boom, boom, boom. One after another," one witness told ABC.

"I never saw that in my life — shocking," said another.

The next day, NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said police believe the shooting was planned, as reported by the New York Daily News.

The paper identified the shooter's vehicle as a Nissan Rogue, and reported that after the shots were fired, the car hit a Honda and a pillar supporting an elevated subway track.

“We believe it was something in Mr. Henry's personal life, and that's where we are with that right now,” Boyce said of the shooter's motive, according to the News.

On Monday, one of Nashan's friends spoke glowingly of the victim.

"This guy was a beautiful person, a beautiful soul, probably one of the best people is in this neighborhood," the friend told ABC. "Never harm to nobody. He only helps everybody it would take the shirt off his back, it is terrible, it makes me sick to my stomach. These people are cowards, they're cowards."

Anyone with information on this shooting can confidentially report it using 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.

Nashan was killed in the NYPD's 66th Precinct, which patrols Borough Park and Kensington. According to official police statistics, through Aug. 21, major crimes were collectively down 12 percent in the 66th compared to the same time period last year.

Through that date, no shootings had been recorded in the precinct, compared to two shootings with three victims during the same period in 2015.

Pictured at top: the intersection of 46th Street and New Utrecht Avenue. Image via Google Maps