BROOKLYN, N.Y. (PIX11) -- Nearly a million people converged on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn for the 57th annual West Indian Day Parade.
However, the party atmosphere was again disrupted by violence. Five people were shot along the route, and hours later, a man was slashed in the same area near Franklin Avenue.
Karen Haslam's daughter was there and described the chaos.
“She was like, 'We heard the gunshots and ran,'” she said.
Luz Cuadra was still hearing ringing in her ears from the gunfire.
“I ducked and covered, then I was running, and I turned around [the victims] were there laying,” she recounted.
A barrage of bullets was fired into the crowd by a lone gunman near Franklin Avenue and Eastern Parkway around 2:30 p.m. Police said it was not random but suspect there were innocent casualties.
“When you fire a gun into a crowd, we have to figure out who was intended and who was not,” NYPD Chief John Chell said.
Five people, including one woman, ranging in age from 16 to 69, were wounded as the suspect fled. Everyone survived.
“I looked and two people were on the floor. A man with a wound on his head - they bandaged him up really fast, and an older woman sitting next to me. I was close to death today,” Cuadra added.
Karen Haslam was frantically looking for her daughter in the chaos.
“[I'm] panicked, that’s why I’m here, I’m trying to find her now,” she told PIX11.
The shooting paused the West Indian Day Parade briefly but did not derail it. Plenty of people continued partying despite the disruption.
The parade’s rich history has been marred by violence in the past.
“In 2014-2015, it was really bad, but it’s improved in recent years. More of a police presence, so that’s helped,” Bart Hubbuch, a business owner, said.
Detectives are still trying to get their hands on video of the shooting suspect, hoping that one of the dozens of people near the violence captured the mass shooting.
As of Monday night, there have been no arrests. The suspect is believed to be in his 20s and was wearing a bandana and a brown shirt. Sources say the act was likely gang-related.
Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
