A school near P.S. 309 in Bed-Stuy went into shelter-in-place on Tuesday afternoon after a shooting broke out just blocks away, sending a person to the hospital with a gunshot wound to the leg. Police say the victim was sitting in a car near the intersection of Monroe Street and Ralph Avenue, just after 1 p.m., when they were shot. No students were injured, and the order was lifted later in the day, according to school staff.
The shooting itself occurred at Monroe Street and Ralph Avenue, according to police, as reported by News12. The victim was taken to Wyckoff Hospital following the shooting. As of the latest reporting, no arrests had been made in connection with the incident, and police have not released a suspect description.
School Staff Confirm Safety of Students
Once the shelter-in-place order went into effect, the nearby school kept students and staff inside as a precaution while police responded to the scene. School staff later confirmed that no students were injured during the incident, and that the shelter-in-place order was lifted later the same day, allowing normal activities to resume.
This is not the first time a shooting in Bed-Stuy has triggered a school lockdown. In January, a shooting on Marcus Garvey Boulevard reportedly triggered a lockdown at Success Academy on Lafayette Avenue, located just across the street from that scene, per a separate News12 report. A shooting on Ralph Avenue also left a 33-year-old man in critical condition after he was shot multiple times in the chest at the Brevoort Houses, according to CBS News.
A Pattern Across Brooklyn Schools
Shelter-in-place orders have become a recurring response for Brooklyn schools in the aftermath of nearby gun violence. After a subway shooting in Sunset Park, schools spanning a swath of the borough were told to lock their doors and keep children and staff inside, according to Gothamist. Then-Schools Chancellor David Banks said at the time that the order was imposed “out of an abundance of caution and for the safety of our students,” in coordination with the NYPD and school leaders.
In that case, some District 15 schools had their shelter-in-place orders lifted shortly after noon, while the order remained in effect for at least a dozen other schools near the shooting, per the same report. Sixteen people were injured in that subway shooting, including 10 with gunshot wounds. More recently, students at Westinghouse High School and the Adams Street Educational Campus were reported to be sheltering in place following a fatal shooting in a Downtown Brooklyn park, according to the Brooklyn Eagle.
For now, the Monroe Street shooting near P.S. 309 remains under investigation, with police yet to announce any arrests. Parents and school staff in Bed-Stuy are left once again weighing the reality that gun violence just outside the schoolhouse door can upend a normal afternoon in an instant.
