Shooting in a crowded New York club leaves 3 dead despite record low gun violence

NEW YORK (AP) — A club shooting in the New York City borough of Brooklyn early Sunday morning has left three people dead and nine others wounded in a year of record-low gun violence in the city.

Investigators believe up to four shooters opened fire with multiple weapons at Taste of the City Lounge in Crown Heights after a dispute just before 3:30 a.m. The violence appeared to be gang-related, New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters.

“It’s a terrible shooting that occurred in the city of New York,” Tisch said at a news briefing, later calling the killings “a tragic, senseless act of violence.”

The crime is the second mass shooting within weeks in New York City during a year that has otherwise seen declining gun violence. On July 29, a man stalked through a Manhattan office tower with a rifle, wounding one person and killing four others. A New York City police officer was among those who died.

Mayor Eric Adams said both recent shootings just reinforce “why we do this work of going after guns off our streets.”

“This is the second within weeks, and we don’t want this to turn into a normal course of doing business of violence in our city,” he said.

Those wounded Sunday were being treated at hospitals for non-life-threatening injuries, Tisch said. The ages of the victims range from 19 to 61. A 19-year-old man died at the scene and two other men — ages 35 and 27 — died after being transported to a hospital.

Investigators found at least 42 shell casings from 9 mm and .45-caliber weapons and a firearm in a nearby street.

Adams said crisis management teams had been mobilized to provide trauma services and facilitate mediation efforts with the victims’ friends and families to try to stop any retaliation. He asked members of the public who might have information about the shooting to help investigators by calling NYPD’s crime stoppers line, 800-577-TIPS.

“If you were inside the club, if you heard individuals talking about this shooting, if you witnessed someone fleeing the location, every piece of information will allow us to put the puzzle together,” Adams said.

Tisch said the violence erupted even as the city has reported the lowest number of shootings and shooting victims on record during the first seven months of 2025.

“Something like this is, of course, thank God, an anomaly and it’s a terrible thing that happened this morning, but we’re going to investigate and get to the bottom of what went down,” she said.

Leah Willingham, The Associated Press