Brooklyn Sweet 16 Shooting: Suspects Open Fire, Injuring Six Teenagers

Shooting Outside Sweet 16 Party

• 🎯 Six teenagers were shot after leaving a Sweet 16 party at a banquet hall in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn.
• 🗓️ The incident occurred overnight Saturday into Sunday morning.
• ⚠️ The victims, including a 15-year-old niece of the city's first gun violence czar, sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

Anti-Violence Advocate's Family Impacted

• 💔 The shooting directly affected at Mitchell, appointed as the city's first gun violence czar in 2022, whose niece was among the injured.
• 🗣️ Mitchell expressed the personal devastation, stating, "This is exactly what I've been working against. Um, so this is the first time it has actually struck a member of my direct family."
• ⏳ Mitchell has dedicated over two decades to anti-violence advocacy.

Investigation and Suspects

• 🔍 The NYPD is searching for two male suspects seen in surveillance video.
• 🚶‍♂️ The video shows the men, wearing hoodies, walking to the corner of Atlantic Avenue and Warick Street, opening fire, and then retreating.
• Shell casings: Investigators found 21 shell casings at the intersection.

Witness Accounts and Aftermath

• 👂 Some victims initially mistook the gunshots for popping balloons inside the venue.
• 😨 The event has left parents and children traumatized.
• 💬 Mitchell emphasized that their anti-violence work is being intensified in response to the incident.