An 18-year-old Brooklyn man is dead after being shot in the face and torso outside a Williamsburg convenience store, and the gunman remains on the loose. Jayden Velasquez was struck just before 10 p.m. Wednesday near 160 Havemeyer Street, according to police, and later died at the hospital.
Paramedics rushed Velasquez to NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue in Manhattan, where he was pronounced dead, according to News 12 Brooklyn. Bellevue serves as Manhattan's designated Level 1 Adult Trauma Center, with round-the-clock emergency surgical teams and dedicated resuscitation suites, per NYC Health + Hospitals — explaining why Velasquez was taken across the East River rather than to a closer neighborhood facility. Police have not made any arrests, and what happened before the shooting, who opened fire, and why remain unclear, the outlet reports.
Officers blocked off part of the sidewalk near the scene with police tape as they worked to piece together the circumstances. Investigators are looking for a man last seen heading east on Havemeyer Street, wearing a white shirt and light-colored pants, according to police sources cited in the same report. Velasquez has been identified as a Brooklyn resident.
A Corridor With a Violent Past
The stretch of Havemeyer Street where Velasquez was shot has seen deadly gunfire before. The same address, 160 Havemeyer Street, was the site of a fatal shooting in December 2017, when gunmen opened fire just after midnight and killed a 19-year-old man, as reported by CBS New York.
The block sits along a dense commercial and dining strip in South Williamsburg, with ground-floor fast-food eateries and restaurants tucked directly beneath residential apartments, according to filings reviewed by Community Board No. 1. That streetscape traces back to the city's 197-C rezoning plan, which capped building heights while encouraging ground-floor commercial activity near residential blocks along the Grand Street corridor, per New York City Community Board 1.
Recent Violence Just Blocks Away
This is not the first time gunfire has erupted near this stretch of Williamsburg in recent months. Just two blocks away at 203 South 3rd Street, NYPD officers arrested 18-year-old Jayden Velasquez in April on multiple counts of criminal possession of a weapon, resisting arrest, and obstructing governmental administration, following a street chase near a local school, as Hoodline previously reported.
In March, a 34-year-old man was shot in the abdomen near 224 South 3rd Street after a sidewalk brawl escalated into gunfire, with four suspects fleeing southbound onto Havemeyer Street, according to News 12 Brooklyn. And in March 2025, 21-year-old Joharis Rivas was shot and killed at 10 Meserole Street, also within the 90th Precinct, in another fatal youth shooting that drew calls from local community groups for stronger anti-violence measures.
Precinct Numbers Tell a Different Story
Wednesday's shooting occurred within the boundaries of the NYPD's 90th Precinct, which serves Williamsburg under the command of Captain Vincent Seminerio. Precinct-level statistics have shown localized spikes in homicides in recent years even as citywide officials tout broader declines in violent crime, according to FOX 5 New York.
The shooting site also falls within New York City Council District 33, represented by Council Member Lincoln Restler, who has held office since January 2022 and whose district stretches along the northern Brooklyn waterfront from Greenpoint to Brooklyn Heights, according to the New York City Council.
How to Submit a Tip
With no arrests made, the NYPD is asking anyone with information to come forward through the NYC Police Foundation's Crime Stoppers program, which guarantees anonymity and offers cash rewards of up to $3,500 for tips leading to an indictment in a violent crime, according to the New York City Police Foundation. Tipsters can call 1-800-577-TIPS, or 1-888-57-PISTA for Spanish speakers.
