A man opened fire in front of a Brooklyn playground on Saturday morning, then pedaled away on a bicycle, and now detectives are asking the neighborhood to help track him down.
According to police, the shooter fired a single round toward a 29-year-old man outside 4802 Tilden Avenue, then rode off westbound on East 48th Street toward Beverley Road. No arrest had been announced at the time of the department bulletin, which included images of a person of interest and a public plea for tips.
What police say
In a post from NYPD Crime Stoppers, investigators say the incident happened around 9:40 a.m. in front of 4802 Tilden Avenue and involved “one firearm discharge directed at a 29-year-old male victim.”
The suspect is described as firing once, then fleeing on a bicycle heading west on East 48th Street toward Beverley Road. The Crime Stoppers alert includes still photos of a person of interest and notes that there is a reward of up to $3,500 for information that leads to an arrest and indictment.
How to help
Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). Spanish speakers can call 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). Tips can also be submitted online through the NYPD website or via the Crime Stoppers app.
Police are urging anyone who has cellphone video, photos, or other recordings from the area around the time of the shooting to preserve them and share them with investigators. Those materials could help confirm the shooter’s route or provide a clearer view of the person in the posted images. Tips that lead to an arrest and indictment may qualify for the posted reward.
Where it happened
The address listed in the bulletin, 4802 Tilden Avenue, is the location of Tilden Playground, which sits on Tilden Avenue between East 48th and East 49th Streets in East Flatbush, according to NYC Parks.
The playground is surrounded by residential blocks and nearby businesses, so detectives believe there is a decent chance someone saw or recorded something without realizing it. Police say they are especially interested in any security or dash-cam footage captured on surrounding streets that might show the suspect before or after the shot was fired.
Context
Reporters and researchers use the NYPD’s publicly available shooting-incident datasets on NYC Open Data to track where gunfire occurs across the city.
The department has recently issued a number of “WANTED FOR RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT” notices tied to street-level gunfire. One separate early-morning shooting on Avenue L earlier this month, highlighted under the heading Avenue L gunfire, shows how these bulletins are used to flush out witnesses, video, and license-plate details when investigators are short on leads.
Legal implications
The Crime Stoppers alert labels this case “WANTED FOR A RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT,” tying it to New York’s reckless endangerment laws. Reckless endangerment in the second degree is defined in Penal Law § 120.20, according to Justia, and is a class A misdemeanor. Reckless endangerment in the first degree is a class D felony under Penal Law § 120.25, per Justia.
Prosecutors decide which charges to bring after reviewing the evidence that detectives collect. The reckless-endangerment label signals that authorities believe the single gunshot created a substantial risk to others nearby. Legal analysts note that the line between misdemeanor and felony can turn on whether the conduct created a grave risk of death or showed what the law calls “depraved indifference to human life.”
If you saw something
Police are asking anyone who was in the area around 9:40 a.m. on Saturday and who captured anything on video or in photos to contact investigators.
According to NYPD Crime Stoppers, tips can be submitted by calling the hotline, using the online portal, or sending a direct message to @NYPDTips on X. Tipsters who help lead police to an arrest and indictment in the case may be eligible for the advertised reward.
