A 25-year-old man was shot in the ankle early Thursday outside 268 East 98th Street in Brownsville, and the two masked suspects blamed for the attack got away on an e-bike before police could catch them. No arrests have been made, and investigators are still trying to track down the pair responsible.
According to News 12 Brooklyn, police responded to a shooting in front of the East 98th Street address and found the victim suffering from a gunshot wound to his left ankle. EMS rushed him to Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center, where he is expected to be okay, the outlet reported. Per police sources cited in the report, two men wearing all black clothing and surgical masks fled the scene on an e-bike, and the investigation remains ongoing.
The location falls within the NYPD's 73rd Precinct, which covers Brownsville and neighboring Ocean Hill, according to the NYPD. Brookdale, where the injured man was taken, operates an American College of Surgeons verified Level II Trauma Center that handles more than 20,000 emergency trauma visits a year as part of the One Brooklyn Health network, per One Brooklyn Health.
A Precinct That Has Actually Been Getting Safer
The shooting comes even as gun violence numbers in the area have been trending sharply downward. The 73rd Precinct logged just two shooting incidents in the first quarter of 2026, compared with seven during the same stretch in 2025, according to data cited by NestApple. That local dip mirrors a citywide pattern: New York City recorded 322 shooting incidents and 381 shooting victims in the first half of 2026, the lowest mid-year totals in the NYPD's recorded history, per FOX 5 New York.
Brooklyn North precincts, including the 73rd, have seen multi-year gun violence drops tied to focused enforcement pushes, with the 73rd Precinct once recording a 30% drop in shootings during one such campaign, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office. In April, prosecutors and the NYPD announced sweeping indictments charging 36 people tied to two rival street gang alliances linked to dozens of shootings in Brownsville, as Hoodline reported in its gang sweep coverage. Whether this latest shooting is connected to gang activity remains an open question that investigators have not addressed.
E-Bike Getaways Fuel a Broader City Debate
The suspects' use of an e-bike to escape adds to a citywide conversation over motorized two-wheelers and crime. The New York City Council introduced a package of 17 bills in August aimed at tightening safety rules and enforcement against illegal e-bikes and e-scooters, according to CBS News. That push follows a March directive from Mayor Zohran Mamdani instructing the NYPD to stop issuing criminal court summonses to e-bike riders for minor traffic infractions, shifting such violations to civil traffic tickets instead, per the Mayor's Office.
It is unclear what specific e-bike model the suspects used or how fast it could travel, and it is unknown whether security cameras near the East 98th Street storefronts captured footage of the two masked men. Brownsville does have local resources aimed at curbing street violence: the Brownsville Safety Alliance deploys community-based “credible messengers” and violence interrupters to defuse conflicts and connect residents to services, according to The Trace.
Recent String of Brownsville Shootings
This is at least the latest in a series of shootings that have rattled the neighborhood in recent months. Hoodline previously reported on a fatal shooting of a teen on Blake Avenue in May, a non-fatal shooting during a delivery run near Riverdale Avenue, a shooting inside the Stone House supportive housing facility in April, and gunfire that shattered a mother's window on Dumont Avenue in March. Anyone with information on Thursday's shooting can contact NYPD Crime Stoppers, which offers anonymous cash rewards of up to $3,500 for tips leading to an arrest and indictment in violent felony cases, according to NYC311.
