A 20-year-old man was shot in the hand just before 3:45 a.m. Sunday outside Lucky 7 Deli & Grill at 1925 Nostrand Avenue in East Flatbush, and police say they recovered a gun and have a person of interest in custody as the investigation continues. No official arrests had been announced as of Sunday.
According to News12 New York, police sources confirmed the firearm was recovered in connection with the shooting, and sources close to the investigation say the person now in custody is being treated as a person of interest rather than a formally charged suspect. Paramedics transported the wounded man to Kings County Hospital, where investigators say he is expected to recover from the gunshot wound. Investigators did not immediately have information about what sparked the shooting.
A Familiar Stretch of Nostrand Avenue
The shooting unfolded on a commercial strip that police already know well. Nostrand Avenue between Clarkson Avenue and Glenwood Road is identified by the NYPD 67th Precinct, headquartered at 2820 Snyder Avenue, as one of four major commercial corridors within its East Flatbush and Remsen Village jurisdiction. Lucky 7 Deli & Grill itself operates around the clock, seven days a week. Just two weeks before this shooting, on August 28, Citizen listed an unconfirmed incident at that exact address in an item titled as a report of a man robbed at gunpoint.
Kings County Hospital Center, where the injured man was taken, sits at 451 Clarkson Avenue and runs one of only three Level 1 Trauma Centers in Brooklyn, per the NYC Health + Hospitals. The hospital is also where the injured man was taken.
What Comes Next for the Person in Custody
Should charges eventually be filed over the recovered firearm, New York law sets a strict floor for punishment. Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree under Penal Law Section 265.03 — a charge that applies to possession of a loaded firearm with intent to use it unlawfully against another person — is a Class C violent felony carrying a mandatory minimum sentence of 3.5 years and up to 15 years in prison for first-time offenders, according to the Law Office of Cory Garcia, P.C. Sentencing can depend on factors including prior convictions. No charges have been announced yet, and what triggered the confrontation outside the deli remains unknown.
A Precinct With a Mixed Recent Record
The shooting comes amid other shootings reported in the broader Flatbush and East Flatbush area this year. An August 25 shooting on Flatbush Avenue left a young man wounded in the leg, following a July 15 shooting that injured two men outside an East Flatbush residence, as previously reported by Hoodline. Those incidents came as the NYPD 67th Precinct page provided links to crime statistics.
Longer-term context also surrounds the precinct's history. The precinct's recent history includes violent-crime cases. Firearm incidents in the area may involve police as well as street crime.
For now, investigators have not disclosed a motive in Sunday's shooting near Lucky 7 Deli & Grill, and no official arrests have been announced. The person of interest remains in custody as police continue piecing together what happened on Nostrand Avenue before dawn.
